Hurricane Nolo moves away from Hawaiian Islands but heavy rains and flash floods threat persists

Although Hurricane Nolo is moving away from the Hawaiian Islands, there is still the threat of heavy rains and flash floods, as per media reports. Strong winds are persisting in areas still recovering from previous storms.

Nolo was around 260 miles (415 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii's southernmost point on Sunday morning. The hurricane was moving away from the Big Island at about 12 mph (19 kph).

A high wind warning, wind advisory and high surf advisory are still in effect through Sunday evening as Nolo's maximum sustained winds have increased to near 105 mph (165 kph), the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said.


Earlier, it was informed that the storm was expected to approach the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which is a national conservation area.

Michael Brennan, director, National Hurricane Center, “Don’t venture out if you don’t have to into the dangerous flooding environment, but also high winds. We can have trees and power lines down.”

Nolo's outer bands could cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides. Several parts of the Big Island may be getting up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain, forecasters said. Heavy rain also was expected on the other islands.

On Saturday afternoon, heavy rains fell across the southern part of the Big Island. It also led to the partial closures of one of the main highways linking Kailua-Kona in the west to Hilo in the east. On the island, over 120 guard members have been deployed.

Residents are still recovering from Hurricane Lala, which led to heavy rain and winds strong enough to sweep about 100 homes off their foundations on the Big Island.