Hurricane Lowell strikes Hawaii, knocks out power to most of Kauai | CNN

Most of Kauai County is without power as Hurricane Lowell batters the westernmost islands with hurricane-force wind gusts.

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Lowell’s center tracked less than 50 miles from the island of Niihau in Kauai County as a Category 2 storm, making it the strongest hurricane to impact the main Hawaiian Islands since Category 4 Iniki in 1992. It’s the third storm in just over three weeks to target Hawaii, as El Niño supercharges the Pacific hurricane season.

Around 90% of homes and businesses in Kauai County, which also includes the island of Kauai, have lost power, according to PowerOutage.us. Wind gusts on Kauai have reached up to 87 mph in Nawiliwili and 84 mph in Lihue.

“There are currently downed power lines, downed trees, debris all over Kauai, so we are really urging folks to stay in place,” said Alan Clinton, situation unit leader with Kauai County.

“For the most part, a lot of people have really listened to our advice” to shelter in place, Kauai County Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami told CNN on Monday. “For that I’m very thankful.”

A rare hurricane warning remains in effect for Kauai County, where peak impacts are expected to last into Tuesday morning.

Tropical storm-force wind gusts and rain have spread eastward into Oahu as well. Honolulu has clocked gusts to 45 mph while higher elevations have reached over 70 mph. More than 30,000 customers are without power on Oahu, according to PowerOutage.US.

Rainfall totals on Kauai had reached a foot or more in higher elevations as of 11 p.m. local time on Monday. Oahu’s Koolau mountains have picked up 5 to 9 inches of rain, while most other areas have received 1 to 3 inches.

Multiple rivers on Kauai have reached flood stage, although the hurricane’s heaviest rainfall is over there. And heavy rain flooded roads on Oahu, where a tropical storm warning is in effect.

Lowell’s lingering impact

Hurricane Lowell will gradually weaken as it moves northward away from Hawaii on Tuesday.

Its strongest winds will subside through Tuesday morning, although trailing rainbands could still produce gusty conditions at times.

A flood watch remains in effect for all of Hawaii through Tuesday afternoon.

Lowell’s high surf “damaged a lot of the area right around the shoreline,” on Kauai, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said in a Monday evening update. That married with forecasts from the National Weather Service calling for “the potential for significant damage to coastal properties and infrastructure” in portions of Kauai County and Oahu.

Voluntary evacuation advisories are in place for areas on the south and west shores of Kauai due to storm surge, Molly Pierce, a spokesperson for the county emergency management office, told CNN.

The surf was expected to peak Monday night into early Tuesday, but the rough conditions will take much of the day to ease up. A high surf warning is in effect through Tuesday afternoon for south-facing shores of Kauai County, Oahu County, Maui County and the Big Island.

The combination of storm surge and tides could raise water 2 to 4 feet above normally dry ground in parts of Kauai County, with the highest levels expected along Kauai’s south coast and on Niihau. Up to 1 foot is possible on Oahu, and large, destructive waves could worsen coastal flooding.

The hurricane could still spin up a few tornadoes. A tornado watch is in effect for Kauai until 4 a.m. local time on Tuesday. This is the first time the National Weather Service in Honolulu has issued a tornado watch since the office’s inception in the 1940s.

Hawaii hunkers down

Dozens of guests staying at the ISO Hotel in Kapa’a, Kauai, were evacuated to schools set up as shelters Monday as storm conditions worsened.

“We’re trying to see if we can go try and find somewhere else to stay. We don’t know the area so we’re basically just stuck here,” Leticia Venegas, a tourist from Texas, told CNN affiliate KITV.

As of Monday night, 275 people and 35 pets were housed in the Kauai County emergency shelters, Pierce said.

Governor Green declared a state of emergency for the entire state last week to free up resources and activate Hawaii National Guard units.

All state and county offices, Kauai Community College and public schools will be closed on Kauai and Niihau Tuesday, Green announced Monday. All flights at Lihue Airport, Kauai’s primary airport, were canceled Monday afternoon as conditions continued to worsen, Hawaii’s Department of Transportation said.

Emergency personnel were being deployed to Kauai’s emergency operations center, the governor said Sunday, adding “airports and highways are securing facilities and equipment, and food and water have been positioned across Kauaʻi in case flooding or road closures isolate communities.”

El Niño’s influence

El Niño is helping fuel increased storm potential in the central Pacific this year, warming ocean temperatures in the region and weakening storm-killing upper-level winds, on top of an ocean already warming from climate change.

Five named storms, including Lowell, have already either formed or tracked into the Central Pacific so far. A typical season only has five, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s forecast calls for up to 13 by the time this season is over.

CNN’s Kate S. Petersen, Taylor Romine, Hanna Park, Danya Gainor, Karina Tsui, Eduardo Cuevas and Dalia Faheid contributed to this report.