HONOLULU -- Hawaii geared up on Saturday to face a hurricane that threatened to pummel the islands with dangerous surf, strong winds and flash floods even as residents grappled with escalating numbers of coronavirus cases.
Powerful storms are familiar to many in Hawaii who have spent the past several summers preparing for tropical cyclones. But the pandemic adds a new twist.
Luke Meyers, the administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, urged people get ready by learning about the hazards where they live.
"We know that things are going to get wet, things are going to blow and things are going to slide," Meyers said.
Hurricane Douglas was 440 miles (705 kilometres) east of Hilo early Saturday It was packing maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph), making it a Category 2 hurricane.
The National Weather Service forecasts Douglas will weaken as it passes over cooler waters and encounters wind shear closer to the Hawaiian Islands. Meteorologists predict it will be near-hurricane strength as it nears the Hawaiian Islands Saturday and Sunday.
"The current path of Hurricane Douglas is going to be really close to the islands and it may make landfall," National Weather Service meteorologist Vanessa Almanza said Saturday. "So at this moment, we still don't know if there's going to be a direct hit. Either way, impacts will be felt."
The coronavirus was complicating preparations for the American Red Cross, which operates emergency shelters on behalf of local governments.
Many volunteers who normally staff the shelters are staying home because they are older or have pre-existing health conditions that put them at higher risk of getting severely sick if infected by the virus.
At the same time, each shelter will have less capacity because of the physical distancing requirements to prevent the spread of the disease, and more shelters (and workers) will be needed to accommodate people.
Shelters will need 60 square feet (6 square meters) per person or family instead of the 10 square feet (1 square meter) per person needed in the past.
Maui Mayor Michael Victorino said his county won't open as many shelters for Douglas as a result of the staffing situation. But he still expects to have enough room for those who need to evacuate because there are so few tourists visiting during the pandemic. Travellers are normally some of the biggest users of Maui's shelters during hurricanes.
The CEO of the Pacific Islands region of the American Red Cross was understanding of those uncomfortable about volunteering during the pandemic. Diane Peters-Nguyen put out a call for others who might be able to help.
"We do ask people to think about that and take care of themselves and their family first. But if they're able, we really appreciate those that can, to respond," she said.
Hawaii has some of the lowest coronavirus infection rates in the nation, but COVID-19 numbers have been rising in recent weeks. On Thursday and Friday, the state reported 55 and 60 new confirmed cases, both of which were record highs.
At Pearl Harbor, the Navy began moving ships and submarines out to sea where they will stay until the threat from the storm subsides. The Navy will either secure its aircraft in hangars or fly them to other airfields.
Hawaiian Airlines cancelled all Sunday flights and some Saturday flights between Honolulu and the other islands.
Hawaii is used to stocking up on food and other essentials to ride out hurricanes. Yet in one sense it is ill-prepared for the storms because so many of Hawaii's single-family homes are older structures built before building codes were changed in the 1990s to take account of hurricane hazards.
A 2015 state report warned that these homes "will be vulnerable to structural collapse under a hurricane's high wind pressures and wind-borne debris" unless they have been retrofitted.
Hawaii has been spared the worst in recent years as major hurricanes either weakened as they approached or skirted the main islands all together.
In 2018, Hurricane Lane came toward the state as a Category 5 storm and dumped more than 50 inches of rain on the Big Island, which is mostly rural. Forecasts had called for Lane to slam into Honolulu but strong wind shear largely broke up the storm just south of the state's biggest city.
Hurricane Iniki made landfall on Kauai as a Category 4 hurricane in 1992. More than 41% of the island's homes were damaged or destroyed by the storm.
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AP Radio correspondent Julie Walker contributed to this report from New York.
