With the possible arrival Tuesday of Hurricane Olivia — probably as a tropical storm — scores of East Hawaii folks were making preparations to weather the cyclone.
The Home Depot store in Hilo, in particular, was a hub of activity Sunday afternoon.
Chris Clergeon of Hilo said he made his own storm preparations in June at the start of hurricane season. He was, however, strapping a large piece of plywood to the roof of his car in the store’s parking lot, and said he was going to help a friend secure her home.
“She cannot do it herself,” Clergeon said. “She’s around 80, so she wanted some help to put a piece of wood in front of a very nice window that she wants to protect.”
Leonard Reyes of Puna was also loading plywood into the bed of his pickup truck. Reyes said he’s “concerned” about Olivia making landfall.
“When we had Iselle we had pretty much damage in the house, so I have to take precautions,” he said.
Iselle, a former hurricane, hit Hawaii Island with tropical storm strength in August 2014, causing severe damage in Puna and Ka‘u, including downed trees, mostly albizia, power outages and crop damage estimated at $79.2 million.
As Colleen “Charly” Bringman rolled a dolly with numerous sheets of plywood from the store, a man was wheeling a generator to his waiting pickup and others were loading their cars and trucks with two-by-fours, bottled water and flashlights and batteries.
“I went to get my water yesterday, my five gallon jugs, because the last time, they ran out of filtered water,” Bringman said. “This time, I got it done early, filled up all my jugs. Five jugs.”
Bringman, who lives in Volcano, said she’s been here 13 years and has seen “some pretty mean storms.”
“Even if it’s a tropical storm, that’s not to be underestimated,” she said.
“What gets us up there in Volcano is the wind. When it’s windy and the trees go down, we lose power. There’s a lot of ohia trees all around us. … There are diseased ohias that I had chopped a few months ago, back in March.”
Bringman said with the remnants of Hurricane Lane two weeks ago, “we had a lot of rain but we didn’t flood, thank goodness.”
Some areas of East Hawaii got more than 50 inches of rain in a four-day period.
As of 5 p.m., Hurricane Olivia was 595 miles east-northeast of Hilo, packing maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. The cyclone was moving west at 12 mph.
The National Weather Service issued a tropical storm watch for Hawaii Island, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe.
A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible in the watch area. A watch is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds, conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous.
Gov. David Ige signed an emergency proclamation Sunday that will provide relief for disaster damages, losses and suffering caused by Hurricane Olivia.
Even if Olivia arrives as a tropical storm, as predicted, Hawaii is in danger of experiencing high winds, heavy rains, high surf, storm surges and flooding that threaten to harm communities and cause extensive damage to public and private property across the state.
“We’re monitoring this storm closely and taking steps now to ensure that we’re prepared for its impacts to the state. A tropical storm could bring heavy rain and flooding, especially in places that are saturated from previous storms. Now is the time to prepare,” Ige said in a statement.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.