Hurricane Douglas approached Hawaii on Sunday packing torrential rains and damaging winds just east of the islands in the central Pacific.
Forecasters urged residents to be prepared for the worst as Douglas was expected to make landfall or pass close to the main Hawaiian islands from Maui to Kauai.
In its latest update, the hurricane center said Douglas had maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour (140 km per hour), moving west-northwest at 16 mph (26 kph) about 55 miles (90 km) east of Kahului. “We encourage everyone to hunker down, to be prepared for hurricane force winds. We prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” Governor David Ige said during a news conference.
Hurricanes and tropical storms are rare for Hawaii; only five hurricanes and tropical storms have caused major damage on the islands since 1950, according to researchers at the University of Hawaii.
