HONOLULU, Aug 15 (Bernama-WAM) -- Tropical Storm Lala is expected to strengthen to a hurricane before reaching Hawaii’s Big Island this weekend, forecasters said, bringing heavy rains that can cause destructive flooding and strong winds that can fuel wildfires, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
The National Hurricane Centre said Lala should be at hurricane strength by the time it approaches the Big Island Saturday.
If it makes landfall there, it would be the first to hit the island since 1871.
Back then, according to a University of Hawaii atmospheric scientist’s research of newspaper accounts, a Category 3 hurricane hit the northeast corner of the island, said Vanessa Almanza, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
"First time since satellites. The latest forecast has it very close to the southern tip of the Big Island," Almanza said.
A hurricane warning was issued for the Big Island and a tropical storm warning was in effect for Maui County, which includes the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe.
-- BERNAMA-WAM
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
