Tropical Storm Moke threatens Hawaii as Big Island reels from Hurricane Lala

Tropical Storm Moke passed south of Hawaii, threatening the Big Island with heavy rain. The new risk comes as communities are still recovering from Hurricane Lala's flooding and outages.

In Short

• Big Island faces renewed flooding risk as saturated slopes remain unstable
• Authorities urged residents to shelter indoors and avoid roads statewide
• Moke may dump 25 centimetres of rain, with 38 in spots

Tropical Storm Moke moved past Hawaii on Sunday, bringing the threat of heavy rain to the Big Island as communities were still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Lala. Authorities warned that the main risk from Moke was rainfall in areas already hit by flooding, mudslides and damage to roads and power lines.

The Big Island was expected to take the worst of the new storm, with forecasters warning of life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially on windward and south-eastern slopes and in places affected by Lala. Two deaths linked to the hurricane have been reported in Hawaii.

The US National Hurricane Centre said Moke's centre was about 515 kilometres south-southwest of Hilo around midday on Sunday. The storm had top sustained winds of about 65 kph. The centre was expected to pass south of the Big Island later in the day and then south of Hawaii's smaller main islands early in the week.

Forecasters said Moke could bring up to 25 centimetres of rain across the Big Island, with as much as 38 centimetres in isolated places. In eastern Maui, up to 15 centimetres of rain was expected, while the other islands could receive between 2.5 and 5 centimetres. As with Hurricane Lala, the Big Island was expected to bear the brunt of Moke's rain and winds as the storm moved westward south of the island chain.

Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda said in a social media post on Sunday that residents "should stay off the roads and shelter in place" as a precaution. He said people in need could go to shelters opened by the county at several locations. Ahead of Moke's approach, Hawaii Governor Josh Green urged people to prepare by restocking food, medicine and other essentials.

Lala caused severe damage before moving away from the islands and being downgraded. It remained a strong tropical storm on Sunday far out in the Central Pacific. According to the weather service, the north-east coast of the Big Island recorded the heaviest total rainfall from Lala at 1.1 metres. More than 6,500 customers in the county were still without power on Sunday because of Lala, according to poweroutage.us.

In the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Iselle formed earlier on Sunday and was strengthening far from Mexico's south-west coast. It had top sustained winds of 85 kph on Sunday afternoon and was about 860 kilometres southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect as it moved northwest at 26 kph. The US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Iselle could become a hurricane in another day or two and could generate strong ocean swells along Baja's western coastline from Monday.

In summary, Hawaii was bracing for more heavy rain from Tropical Storm Moke even as the Big Island continued to recover from Hurricane Lala, while in the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Iselle was intensifying far from Mexico without any coastal warnings in place.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends