Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Tropical Storm Moke was moving past Hawaii on Sunday, bringing the threat of heavy rain to the Big Island as communities were still recovering from Hurricane Lala. Forecasters warned that the storm could trigger life-threatening flooding and mudslides in areas hit by Lala, which has been linked to two deaths in Hawaii.
The US National Hurricane Centre said Moke’s centre was about 515 kilometres south-southwest of Hilo around midday, with top sustained winds of about 65 kph. While the winds were relatively modest, officials said the main danger was likely to come from rainfall over places where last weekend’s hurricane flooded communities and damaged roads and power lines.
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Forecasters said Moke could bring up to 25 centimetres of rain across the Big Island, with as much as 38 centimetres in some isolated places. The greatest risk was for the windward and south-east slopes, especially in steep terrain and areas already affected by Lala. In eastern Maui, up to 15 centimetres of rain was expected, while the other islands could receive between 2.5 and 5 centimetres, according to the hurricane centre.
As with Hurricane Lala, the Big Island was expected to take the brunt of Moke’s rain and winds as the storm moved westward south of the island chain. After moving away from the islands, Lala was downgraded and remained a strong tropical storm on Sunday far out in the Central Pacific. The north-east coast of the Big Island recorded the heaviest rainfall from Lala, at 1.1 metres, according to the weather service. More than 6,700 customers, most of them on the Big Island, were still without electricity on Sunday, according to poweroutage.us. Ahead of Moke’s approach, Hawaii Governor Josh Green urged people to prepare by restocking food, medicine and other essentials.
Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Iselle formed earlier on Sunday in the eastern Pacific 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 south-west of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect as it moved north-west at 26 kph. The US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Iselle could become a hurricane within a day or two and was expected to stir up strong ocean swells along Baja’s western coastline from Monday.
In sum, Moke posed a fresh risk to Hawaii, especially the Big Island, where people were still dealing with the damage left by Lala, while Iselle was strengthening over the eastern Pacific without any immediate coastal warnings.
With PTI Inputs
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
