Tropical Storm Moke Forms With 45 mph Winds as Hawaii Braces for 15 Inches of Rain
Updated
Updated · Fox Weather · Aug 21
Tropical Storm Moke Forms With 45 mph Winds as Hawaii Braces for 15 Inches of Rain
3 articles · Updated · Fox Weather · Aug 21
Summary
Tropical Storm Moke strengthened from Depression Two-C in the central Pacific, sitting about 660 miles southeast of Hilo with 45 mph winds and moving west-northwest at 9 mph.
The National Hurricane Center expects the compact storm to pass south of the Big Island but still dump 5-10 inches of rain, with isolated totals up to 15 inches and the heaviest downpours arriving Sunday.
A Flood Watch is already in effect for the Big Island, where forecasters warned of flash flooding, mudslides, damaging winds, dangerous surf and rip currents even without tropical storm watches or warnings.
The threat comes days after Hurricane Lala dropped more than 3 feet of rain near Nāʻālehu, washed out roads and left more than 11,000 Big Island customers still without power on Friday.
Moke would be Hawaii's second tropical system in less than two weeks, with lighter totals of 1-2 inches forecast for Maui as the storm tracks farther south than Lala on Monday.
With Hawaii's infrastructure already crippled by Hurricane Lala, can the islands survive Moke's impending deluge without a catastrophic systemic collapse?
Why might a weaker Tropical Storm Moke actually trigger deadlier landslides than the powerful hurricane that just devastated the state?
As back-to-back storms batter the isolated islands, how will stranded residents survive if already damaged supply routes are completely washed away?