HONOLULU — Tropical Storm Moke was swirling past Hawaii on Sunday, close enough to dump heavy rain on Big Island communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Lala.
The National Hurricane Center located Moke’s center about 320 miles south-southwest of Hilo around midday. Top sustained winds were around 40 mph , though the real impact is expected from rainfall in places where last weekend’s hurricane flooded communities, triggered mudslides and damaged roads and power lines . The northeast coast of the Big Island saw the heaviest total rainfall from Lala, at 43.54 inches , according to the weather service. More than 6,700 customers, most of them on the Big Island, remained without electricity on Sunday, according to poweroutage.us.
Two deaths linked to the hurricane have been reported in Hawaii.
