Hurricane Nolo threatening Hawaii with heavy rain as Polo churns near Mexico

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) — Residents on Hawaii’s Big Island were bracing Friday for potentially life-threatening and catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Nolo, while Mexico was still under the threat of Hurricane Polo as it headed toward the Baja Peninsula after bringing storm conditions to the southwestern coast.

Nolo was about 220 miles (354 kilometers) south of the Big Island on Friday morning and headed northeast, with tropical storm conditions expected to begin on land in the evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Forecasters warned the island could see rainfall totals of 15 to 30 inches (38 to 76 centimeters). Nolo was expected to become a major hurricane on Saturday.

“This rainfall could produce catastrophic life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain,” the hurricane center said.

While Nolo was not forecast to directly hit the islands, heavy rainfall also was possible on Hawaii’s other islands, the hurricane center said. Maui also could see heavy rainfall and potential life-threatening flooding and mudslides, forecasters said.

The hurricane’s maximum sustained winds were 85 mph (137 kph) on Friday morning and expected to increase into the weekend.

Hawaii prepares as northern edge of Nolo is expected to barrel through

Hawaii officials told residents to put together emergency kits and the governor issued an emergency proclamation, activating more than 230 Hawaii National Guard members. Schools were closed for the rest of the week.

The heaviest rain from Nolo is likely to fall over the same southeastern region of the Big Island that was hit in August by Hurricane Lala and where grounds are still wet from additional precipitation.

Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary utility, said crews that had been helping restore power in Kauai after this month’s Hurricane Lowell would return to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island in preparation for the coming storm.

Residents and tourists on the Big Island were busy preparing.

“I guess that’d be my concern — whether we’re getting out of here or not, but, you know, as far as the weather goes, it is what it is,” said Daniel Compton, who was visiting from Seattle.

Polo is strengthening after returning to Category 5 intensity

The hurricane center said Polo gained significant force overnight into Friday morning, when maximum sustained winds were estimated at 290 kph (180 mph). It remained well off the western Mexico coast heading westward, but is expected to turn to the north and reach the Baja California Peninsula late Sunday into Monday, the center said.

No major damage or flooding was reported along the coast overnight into Friday, although some towns in Colima and Michoacán were affected by tides.

Residents stacked sandbags to fortify beachfront shops and evacuated their homes in some coastal areas on Thursday. Mexican authorities were opening shelters and clearing people from beaches, and 15,000 security personnel were deployed across the coast. Schools were closed.

In the port city of Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán, seawater had already swept through homes Thursday and left wooden planks and furniture strewn on the streets. Locals and government officials were clearing out piles of wooden planks from a number of destroyed ramadas and shoveling thick mud coating much of the town.

Alicia Contreras said the walls and roof of her restaurant had been severely damaged by 15-foot (4.5-meter) waves. As officers and family helped pick through the damaged house, Contreras worried how she would recover economically.

“This is huge because we have no other source of income. Now we’re just surviving,” Contreras said.

Powerful storms come during the weather phenomenon El Nino

El Niño is prompting major environmental shifts across the world, fueling drought in some areas and flooding in others. It traditionally dampens the Atlantic hurricane season, while it tends to rev up tropical cyclone activity in the Pacific with moist air and little wind shear.

A third storm in the Pacific, Hurricane Odalys, was at Category 4 status and was still far from land, roughly 975 miles (1,570 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. It carried maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph) and was moving north. It could intensify by Friday night.

Two other powerful storms were churning in the Atlantic Ocean, but were not near land.

In the northern Atlantic, Tropical Storm Fay re-formed early Thursday. As of Friday, it was about 1,065 miles (1,715 kilometers) west-southwest of the Azores, the hurricane center said.

Off Africa’s western coast, Tropical Storm Gonzalo strengthened early Friday as it approached the Cabo Verde Islands with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). The center was expected to pass near or over portions of the islands later Friday and gradually weaken over the weekend.

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Associated Press writers Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.