

On Sunday, the storm buffeted parts of the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos with rain and gusty winds, after passing over the Dominican Republic. The storm’s maximum sustained winds decreased to near 50 mph Tuesday evening with even more weakening expected over the next two days. In the Atlantic Ocean, Tropical Storm Bertha continues to weaken as it moves north, posing no direct threat to the U.S. The clustered storms are rare but not unexpected in years with a developing El Nino, a change in ocean temperature that affects weather around the world. His county, also known as the Big Island, was expected to see Iselle first. The second storm system heightened the urgency to prepare, Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said Tuesday. ‘Of course we’re not looking for a storm … but it tends to generate good waves.’ ‘We’re just getting water and preparing ourselves, too, because it could be bad,’ he said.

Bottled water and cans of Spam and Vienna Sausage flew off the shelves, said Charlie Gustafson, general manager of Tamura’s Supermarket.Ĭhris Pruett of Waikiki was anticipating the silver lining that comes from bad weather: good waves.

‘Two storms in a row? It’s like, hello,’ she said, pushing a cart with two cases of water and other items from a drug store to her car.Ī grocery store in the coastal Oahu community of Waianae opened 15 minutes early Tuesday because people were already lined up to buy supplies. Judy Castillo of Oahu said she wanted to make sure her family was prepared before big crowds flooded stores and shelves emptied. The busy store near downtown has had to continually restock water and sold as much of it on Monday as it sold all last week, he said. ‘Days like today, in a situation like this, we just throw open the doors and hold on for the ride,’ said Scott Ankrom, assistant general manager of the Costco.

When a pallet full of bottled water ran out at a Honolulu warehouse store Tuesday, shoppers loading up on supplies hovered around until a worker refilled it. So we just need to really take this threat seriously and make sure everybody is prepared,’ he said. The last time Hawaii was hit with a tropical storm or hurricane was in 1992, when Hurricane Iniki killed six people and destroyed more than 1,400 homes in Kauai, Lau said. Hawaii has been directly hit by hurricanes only three times since 1950, though the region has had 147 tropical cyclones over that time.
