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When Iselle finally hit the Big Island of Hawaii it had been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, but the cyclone still left considerable damage in its wake and some areas of the island continue to be impacted.
The center of the storm passed to the south of Maui Friday, but there are still areas of the Big Island that were seeing significant storm conditions, according to county Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira.
“Ka’u, parts of Puna and Hamakua are still being impacted, so the storm still hasn’t completely left the island yet,” Oliveira said. “We’re telling residents in those areas that we’re keeping the shelters open and encouraging them to stay if they’re already in a shelter. If not, they should still stay at home because the winds are still at considerable speeds and it is still raining in those areas.”
The National Weather Service in a written statement said the storm was about 85 miles west of Kailua-Kona with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.
Oliveira said that Kohala Mountain Road (Highway 250) is still closed, as is Highway 132 between Pahoa and Nanawale Estates and Mamalahoa Highway (Highway 11) between the 55 and 63 mile markers in Ka’u.
“We have Highway 11 with flooding in the Kawa flats, Naalehu area, so it’s not passable at this time. So we know those communities are isolated or cut off,” he said.
“We are asking people to bear with us. We are making every effort to restore power with HELCO and to clear roadways. It’s just gonna take a little bit of time. Resources are being dispatched in every direction to try to address the islandwide impact.”
Hawaii Electric Light Co. is implementing a rotating power interruption program island wide — also known as rolling blackouts — due to insufficient generation.
Hurricane Julio closing in
As of late Friday, Hurricane Julio was about 680 miles east of Hilo, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. The storm, packing maximum sustained winds of about 100 mph, was moving west-northwest at 16 mph.
If the storm follows its projected path, it will pass far north of the Big Island sometime early Sunday morning.
Local officials will continue to monitor the storm, Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira said Friday afternoon.
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