The Hawaiian Islands could face “catastrophic flooding” this week from a storm system moving over the archipelago, according to the National Weather Service in Honolulu according to NBC News.
In an update on Sunday, the weather service said a “kona low,” a type of seasonal cyclone in the Hawaiian Islands, would linger just west of Kauai with a slow westward drift until Wednesday. It warned that that the storm could bring “widespread heavy rainfall…capable of producing catastrophic flooding, and strong southwest winds.”
By early Monday morning, the weather service said flash flood warnings continued for a number of areas, including Kaunakakai, Ualapu’e, and Mauna Loa.
Meanwhile, according to Yahoo News, a flash flood warning was extended for Maui, where video posted to social media on Sunday night showed heavy rains. A high wind warning was in effect for the summits Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island, as well as over Haleakala on Maui through Monday morning, with wind speeds observed at nearly 90 mph by employees of the National Park Service on Haleakala on Monday.
A blizzard warning also remained in effect for the highest summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. As residents across the islands braced for the storm, Hawaii County Mayor Mitchell Roth declared a state of emergency on Sunday “due to the threat of imminent disaster” the storm posed. Maui County public schools canceled classes Monday, while Kamehameha Schools, a private school system in Hawaii, said it would be closing its Hawaii Island and Maui campuses, preschools, and offices.
