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'I Just Pray': Hawaiians Hunker Down as Hurricane Lane Lashes the Islands

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Instead of luaus, loud sirens warn tourists to leave Hawaii's world famous beaches as Hurricane Lane smacks the islands with winds and bands of debilitating rain.

Packing winds of 120- miles per hour, the Category 3 hurricane is hammering Hawaii's main islands Friday bringing dangerous surf of 20- feet.

"The huge threat is from rain, and you cannot underestimate how much rain is going to be falling across some of those islands," WeatherBELL Chief Forecaster Joe Bastardi tells CBN News.

In some areas, nearly two feet of rain has already fallen and two or three more are expected to fall across the islands. Already mudslides are limiting travel as residents brace for flooding.

"I mean, we used to run around this park as little kids and now it's a raging river," one resident said.

Of course, with rising waters come rising anxieties.

"I feel like it's gonna come more and like our house is like gonna get knocked down and stuff like that so I just pray and stuff to not make it happen," a young girl told a local reporter.

Major hotels are allowing their guests to stay, but urging them to stay inside. Still, many tourists are seeking shelters.

"We are very afraid of the storm and in France, we don't have storms like that so we decided not to stay near the beach and to go to the shelter," said a French tourist.

Residents are hunkering down.

"It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark and so what that means is readiness is important," said Brad Kieserman, Vice President of Disaster Operations with the American Red Cross.

Many stores across the islands are already closed and many others are running out of supplies.

"Be prepared to shelter in place, fourteen days of food and supplies and water, medicine," said Gov. David Ige (D-HI) during a press conference.

Nestled in the Central Pacific Ocean, Hawaii rarely gets hit by hurricanes.

The last major storm to hit the islands is Iniki back in 1992.

Already, Hurricane Lane, is one Islanders and vacationers won't soon forget.

"This is not just going to be over in the next 24 hours. This system is going to be with us for the next four or five days continuing to bring winds to the island, to bring large surf as well as the torrential rains that we've talked about," FEMA Administrator Brock Long told reporters.  

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About The Author

Jennifer
Wishon

As Senior Washington Correspondent for CBN News, Jennifer covers the intersection of faith and politics - often producing longer format stories that dive deep into the most pressing issues facing Americans today. A 20-year veteran journalist, Jennifer has spent most of her career covering politics, most recently at the White House as CBN's chief White House Correspondent covering the Obama and Trump administrations. She's also covered Capitol Hill along with a slew of major national stories from the 2008 financial crisis to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and every election in between. Jennifer