Hurricane Lala lashes Hawaii’s Big Island. Maps show its path.

Hurricane Lala is now a Category 1 storm as it approaches Hawaii’s Big Island, where it will bring heavy rain, life-threatening flooding and mudslides, as well as dangerous surf and rip currents to the area, forecasters said. 

The weather system strengthened into a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph Saturday. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when its maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph.

In a video posted to social media Saturday morning local time, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said the Big Island was seeing about 2 inches of rain per hour. Green said somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 Hawaiian Electric customers had lost power so far.

“People should be sheltering in place now,” Green said. 

In the National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory, Lala was located about 65 miles south-southeast of South Point, Hawaii — the southernmost point of the Big Island — and 275 miles southeast of Honolulu. It was moving northwest at 8 mph.  

The hurricane center said that Lala was “slowing down and turning northwest as it begins to interact” with the Big Island, noting that it could see “erratic motion” during this period. 

It was still unclear if Lala’s core would make landfall in Hawaii. A hurricane has not made landfall in the state since Hurricane Iniki in 1992. 

After Lala’s core passes the Big Island on Saturday, it is expected to make a more westward turn and stay south of the smaller islands on Sunday, the hurricane center said. It may strengthen slightly in the next couple of hours, but is expected to weaken significantly after interacting with the Big Island, forecasters said. 

Damaging, tropical-force winds were spreading across the Big Island and parts of Maui on Saturday, especially across higher terrain. The winds have strengthened throughout Saturday.

Green said in a news briefing Friday night that Hawaii will see “an incredible amount of water,” warning residents and visitors to prepare for heavy flooding and the possibility of major power outages. 

“We’re hoping that it’s going to be sufficiently far south that we just get the periphery of the storm, but, no promises, we’ve seen storms turn,” Green said.    

Mudslides are also a major concern, and large, dangerous surf also brings the potential for coastal flooding and significant beach erosion. The hurricane center has issued a rare hurricane warning for the Big Island.

“This is a very serious storm,” Green said. “We have not had a hurricane make landfall in quite some time. So none of us really have experienced this really in, you know, the last couple of decades.” 

Maps show storm warnings, path

In a worst-case scenario, Lala could dump 25 inches of rain onto the Big Island, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said.

What’s more, Lala could produce a storm surge as high as 3 feet along the coast, along with large waves and life-threatening rip current conditions.

In addition to the hurricane warning for the Big Island of Hawaii, a tropical storm warning is in place for Maui County — including the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe — Oahu and Kauai County, which includes the islands of Kauai and Ni’ihau. Strong winds are also expected to hit portions of the smaller islands.

Hurricane conditions are forecast for the Big Island on Saturday, the hurricane center said, with tropical storm conditions expected in Maui County by Saturday night. Tropical storm conditions are possible in Oahu and Kauai County by Sunday morning.  

“We’re not exempt from these extreme weather conditions. So we’ve been here before, and messages have already gone out. But this could look like a big one,” Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda told CBS News on Friday morning. Hawaii County encompasses the Big Island, where the storm is expected to hit hardest.

Alameda noted that the greatest threats from the storm will vary for people in different parts of the island. 

“If you live close to the shoreline, then it’s high surf. If you live in a different area, could be high winds. But you know, there’s also flooding involved too. So they’re aware and messages went out. And now we’re just bracing ourselves, preparing,” he said.

The Miami-based hurricane center warned that wind speeds could be significantly higher in elevated areas and on the windward sides of slopes and mountains.

Lala is “expected to produce rainfall totals of 8 to 12 inches across Maui and the Big Island with maximum totals of 25 inches possible across the Big Island,” the hurricane center said, along with “rainfall totals of 4 to 6 inches with maximum amounts of 8 inches” across the rest of the islands. “This rainfall may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain,” the forecasters warned.

Hawaii braces for impact

Green declared a state of emergency on Thursday, anticipating Lala’s arrival. His proclamation activated potential disaster relief funds and directed “all state agencies and officers to cooperate and extend their services, materials, and facilities as may be required to assist in emergency response efforts.”

On Friday, the state announced that its National Guard was prepared to support emergency response efforts. The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources has been working to clear streams and other potential flood zones. 

The National Park Service announced that most areas of Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island would close to visitors by Friday afternoon ahead of the storm’s arrival. The Hawaii Department of Education said all school-sponsored extracurricular activities over the weekend are canceled. It has not been decided if schools will open on Monday. 

The last hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii was Hurricane Iniki in 1992, which struck as a powerful Category 4. Iniki was responsible for six deaths and $3 billion in damage, Green said.