Two hurricanes are barrelling down on Hawaii and could make landfall in what looks like a “one-two punch” to the Big Island. Local station KHON2 reports on two dangerous storms that are approaching the state. Hurricane Madeline strengthened into a hurricane on Sunday, and meteorologists are seeing “a large degree of uncertainty,” but hope the storm will track south. The Hawaii County Civil Defense has warned citizens to stock up on supplies, including a full week of food and water for each person in a household.
Even if Hawaii gets lucky where Madeline is concerned, another specter looms close behind in the form of Hurricane Lester. Currently, Madeline is expected to have the greatest impacts between Tuesday and Thursday while Lester is anticipated to follow on Saturday and Sunday. Given the unpredictable nature of Madeline, meteorologists don’t know how strong the storms will continue to be. As of Monday, Madeline was categorized as a Category 3 hurricane, whereas Lester was tracking as a Category 4 storm, although experts expect it to weaken somewhat as the week progresses.
Earlier this month, crews prepared for Tropical Storm Darby, including lots of tree trimming, which meteorologists say helped mitigate the fallout. With any luck, these steps will also help ward off a large amount of damage, should Madeline and Lester actually make landfall.
The National Hurricane Center has published tips on what citizens can do to prepare their homes for a hurricane.