LIHUE — As Tropical Storm Iselle made its way across the state on Friday, hitting some islands with heavy rains and high winds, many residents and visitors heeded warnings issued by state and county officials to stay indoors and off
LIHUE — As Tropical Storm Iselle made its way across the state on Friday, hitting some islands with heavy rains and high winds, many residents and visitors heeded warnings issued by state and county officials to stay indoors and off the roads.
Schools and banks on Kauai were closed, and all county offices were closed by midday as a weakened storm system moved south of the island.
But not all businesses were closed.
Kelsi Holck, who manages Del Sol, By the Sea and Elephant Walk at Anchor Cove Shopping Center in Nawiliwili, said the stores’ corporate office in Honolulu gave her the green light Thursday to open up the businesses this morning and play out the day by ear.
“We’re going to close early if rains really hard, but other than that, we’re still here,” Holck said on Friday afternoon.
On most Fridays, Holck said, cruise ship passengers usually keep stores in the shopping center busy.
But instead of docking at Nawiliwili Harbor overnight, the ship sailed out early on Thursday evening because of the impending storm.
“It’s kind of funny because we thought that nobody is going to be walking around in a tropical storm, but there’s been no rain yet, so we’ve actually had some traffic come through here,” Holck said. “We thought we were just going to be staring at the walls today but people are actually walking around, so it feels like a regular day.”
Papalani Gelato Co-President Marck Shipley said he decided to open the company’s two store locations in Anchor Cove Shopping Center and Poipu Shopping Village this morning but plan out the rest of the day as weather conditions developed.
“Business has actually been pretty steady today,” Papalani Gelato employee Leilani Lee said in between customers on Friday at the company’s Anchor Cove location. “I thought there would be less people, but I had a little rush this morning.”
Shipley said he decided to close the Anchor Cove location at 2 p.m. Friday because of the weather. He did, however, opt to keep the company’s South Shore location open a little later to accommodate visitors in Poipu.
“We had been thinking about closing the store a couple of days before the storm hit, so it really depends on what happens with the weather and the availability of hardworking people,” Shipley said on Friday as he helped to close up the Anchor Cove store.
“Here, there just really isn’t going to be enough business tonight to stay open based on the weather — nobody is going to be out there because everybody’s trying to stay home.”
Some businesses, however, didn’t fair as well as others.
“It feels like it’s a dead island today,” Kauai Fashion Ware manager Van Lee said. “A lot of people are staying in, although some people from the Kauai Marriott Resort are hanging around — I think most of them are by the pool. I think we will close early because we cannot run if it’s too dark and rainy.”
Other merchants at Kukui Grove Center also followed suit.
”I want to be home with my kids,” Mindy Hibbitt said of the cellphone accessories kiosk at the Kukui Grove Center. “I’m going to finish up securing my merchandise and we’re out of here.”
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Reporter Dennis Fujimoto contributed to this story.
