Hawaii Faces Rare Hurricane Strike as Storms Batter Indiana

Hawaii is in line for a rare hurricane strike as Tropical Storm Lala grazes the Big Island, while severe storms threaten more flooding and outages across Indiana.

Tropical Storm Lala may grow into a hurricane as it grazes the Big Island of Hawaii Saturday, bringing dangerous flooding, the National Hurricane Center said. This would be the first hurricane strike anywhere in Hawaii since Iniki in 1992. A hurricane warning has been issued for the island.

Lala, with winds of 60 miles (97 kilometers) per hour, was 435 miles east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, and moving west-northwest in the latest hurricane center advisory. Its winds are forecast to reach 75 mph, just above the threshold for a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, near its closest approach Saturday.

“Rainfall may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain,” Alex Gibbs, a senior hurricane specialist at the center, wrote in an analysis.

In the Midwest, nearly 200,000 homes and businesses are without power across Indiana after days of severe weather disrupted air travel and caused widespread flooding and damage. Another 87,000 customers are without power in neighboring Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky, according to PowerOutage.com.

Another round of downpours and severe thunderstorms is forecast to roll through the region Friday.

Flood watches and flash flood warnings extend from Iowa to West Virginia. The U.S. Weather Prediction Center sees up to a moderate, or 40%, risk of excessive rainfall across parts of the region Friday, with Iowa and northwest Illinois likely to be hardest hit.

Nearly 46 million people from Colorado to Virginia are also under at least a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms, including Chicago, according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center.

Top photo: People walk on a jetty at Waikiki beach on Oahu island on August 24, 2018 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Weather conditions from weakening Tropical Storm Lane are expected to deteriorate on the island with heavy rain and wind in the evening. Bloomberg.