Hurricane Flossie passed by the Big Island yesterday, and forecasters continued to predict that the storm would only indirectly affect Kaua‘i today. Flossie was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane at about 8 p.m. last night, although Hawaii’s Big Island
Hurricane Flossie passed by the Big Island yesterday, and forecasters continued to predict that the storm would only indirectly affect Kaua‘i today.
Flossie was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane at about 8 p.m. last night, although Hawaii’s Big Island remained under a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning.
The Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu downgraded the storm after maximum sustained winds had dropped to 85 mph, down from a 105 mph maximum yesterday.
At 8 p.m. last night Flossie was located about 95 miles south of South Point, the southernmost area of the United States, and about 310 miles south-southeast of Honolulu. It was moving north-northwest at about 10 mph.
As of yesterday evening, the National Weather Service was forecasting that Flossie would approach Kaua‘i from a distance of 170 miles at 8 p.m. today. Winds of 15 to 30 mph, and gusts of 40 mph, are also expected, along with 1 to 2 inches of rain.
According to Kaua‘i’s Civil Defense Agency administrator, Mark Marshall, key county, state and federal officials held a tele-video conference with the National Weather Service yesterday afternoon. Also in attendance at the briefing at the Kaua‘i Emergency Operating Center were representatives from the visitor industry, utility companies and health care or-ganizations.
“We’ve been going over emergency operating procedures,” Marshall said.
As Kaua‘i waits to see whether Flossie will follow its expected course, Civil Defense discussed with the agencies basic preparedness measures such as reviewing contingency plans with employees, topping off fuel for work vehicles and tying down outside items that could become potential debris.
Randy Hee, president and CEO of Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative, said the electric company is already taking steps to handle any form of Flossie, be it hurricane or a major storm.
To start, Hee said KIUC’s employees were briefed on their roles and responsibilities. While crews do not respond during hurricanes, Hee noted that repairs could take place during a lesser storm.
The utility is also preparing for a higher-than-usual volume of calls about outages and other concerns to its hotline, 246-4300.
“Hopefully we prepared too much,” Hee said.
The executive director of Kaua‘i’s American Red Cross, Alfred Darling, said regular volunteers are on stand-by, and people with keys to the shelters on-island have been contacted.
And Darling noted that the absence of a hurricane doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be learned from this week.
“If this doesn’t come, it’s not in vain,” he said. “It’s a good practice run for us.”
For more information, visit www.redcross.org and in the top right corner click on “Disaster Services,” then “Disaster Safety.”
