Torrential rains unleashed flooding and high winds and generated warnings of landslides to Hawaii and Maui, the two largest Hawaiian islands, on Friday, all part of a storm system that has been sweeping southeast through the chain of islands this week.
On the island of Hawaii, known as the Big Island because it’s the largest in the archipelago, rain drenched the North Kona district from Keauhou to Kailua-Kona, the second largest community on the island and a center of tourism and commerce with a population of about 20,000 people. Up to three inches of rain was expected to fall along the island’s west side by the end of the day, the National Weather Service said.
Flash flood warnings went into effect as streams rose rapidly, forecasters said.
Thunderstorms and high winds reached the Big Island on Friday but were expected to weaken before Saturday. The storm had migrated southeast over several days along the chain of islands, from Kauai to Oahu and then reaching Maui, the second largest island, on Thursday, when heavy rainfall led to floods that inundated communities.
Maureen Ballard, a Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu, said that the storm system had been weakening, bringing fewer thunderstorms, as it moved south and down the chain.
“We are expecting conditions to be improving as the day goes on,” she said. “What we are seeing in the islands is not exactly going to be reaching the mainland” across the Pacific.
In Maui, the eastern region saw peak rainfall rates of two to three inches per hour, including along the slopes of Haleakala, a volcano. The Weather Service issued warnings of flash flooding for the entire island and of landslides for its steep terrain areas.
The heaviest period of rain was forecast to come in waves, with wind gusts of more than 60 miles per hour felt through 6 a.m. local time on Friday, the Maui Emergency Management Agency administrator, Amos Lonokailua-Hewett, said on social media.
The largest volume of rain generally doused the western side of Maui, where up to 10.32 inches had fallen in the 24-hour period ending at 7 a.m. local time, Ms. Ballard said.
Wind gusts of up to 35 m.p.h. swept through lower elevations, where most people live, but the summit of Haleakala, a volcano that is in a national park, recorded readings of winds whipping up to 120 m.p.h., Ms. Ballard said.
Sue LaChapelle, a resident of Kihei in South Maui, said in a telephone interview that residents had been posting videos of flooding and road damage on a community page that she oversees on Facebook.
She said that conditions had worsened for residents, who were dealing with closed and washed-out roads as well as a water main break.
“This is not uncommon,” Ms. LaChapelle said. “This is usually what happens in heavy rain. This area is known to flood. It came down so hard so it can’t drain anywhere.”
The Maui County Fire Department did not immediately respond to inquiries about the emergency response in flooded areas.
Ms. Ballard, the meteorologist, said that separate storm systems, which were hundreds of miles to the north of Hawaii, were expected to merge and evolve in several days, potentially affecting the mainland United States.
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