LOS ANGELES: Hone, a Category 1 hurricane, brushed past Hawaii’s Big Island early today, bringing tropical storm conditions with rain and swells, the US Central Pacific Hurricane Center said.
The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 130kph, was “passing just south of South Point on the Big Island”, the agency said at 2am local time.
Tropical storm conditions were expected on the Big Island “through the early morning hours,” with rain of up to 30cm and large swells, the centre continued.
Local TV station KHON2 said beaches had been closed and emergency shelters opened, while Hawaiian Electric reported more than 7,000 customers without power.
Behind Hone, whose name is Hawaiian for “sweet and soft,” was Hurricane Gilma, a Category 4 monster storm on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale.
Gilma was still some 1,480 miles from Hawaii, and expected to weaken, the hurricane centre said.