Energy

Hurricane Lane Drops More Than 4 Feet Of Rain On Hawaii

Reuters

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Tim Pearce Energy Reporter
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Hurricane Lane appears to have dropped more than 4 feet of rain on parts of Hawaii’s Big Island, potentially becoming one of the wettest tropical cyclones in decades, according to the National Weather Service.

Preliminary measurements of rainfall in Mountain View on Big Island show the community received more than 51 inches of rainfall in four days. If the measurement is accurate and made official, it will be the third largest rainfall from a tropical cyclone in the U.S. since 1950. (Deja Vu Is Hitting Hawaii As Hurricane Lane Barrels Toward The State)

On other parts of Big Island, Waiakea Uka received about 49 inches of rain and Piihonua and Saddle Quarry each received about 47 inches of rain.

The totals come after Hawaii narrowly missed a direct hit by the eye of Hurricane Lane. The hurricane approached the islands as a Category 4 storm, but it lost power soon after coming into contact with Big Island, deteriorating to a tropical storm.

Islanders had feared a repeat of Hurricane Iniki that hit Hawaii in 1992. Iniki caused roughly $3 billion in damage and left residents stranded without power for more than a month.

Lane’s rains caused flash flooding and landslides. Thousands of Hawaiians lost power after strong winds blew down power lanes and caused other problems with the grid’s infrastructure, but the damage has not been compared to anything on scale with Iniki.

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