Rain and thunder roll across Oahu

Tropical Storm Darby drenched the islands as it brushed the state Sunday but caused no major damage.

“Some people got a lot of rain out of this, and some people didn’t,” said Chevy Chevalier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu. “But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a dangerous storm. There was a tropical storm all the way through the island chain.

“Even a tropical storm can produce some pretty good winds and a lot of rain,” he said.

Darby served as a good reminder for residents to be prepared because it is usually too late to prepare by the time the storm arrives, Chevalier said. Hurricane season lasts in Hawaii through November.

Following Darby are two other cyclones, Category 2 Hurricane Georgette, with 105 mph winds, and Tropical Storm Frank, closer to Baja California. The remnants of Tropical Storm Estelle, meanwhile, are far to the southeast and should not affect the state.

Heavy rain soaked parts of Oahu on Sunday night, and forecasters predicted more rain and surf, and possibly 40 mph wind on Kauai overnight as Darby passed directly over the island. Thunder could be heard across Oahu for much of Sunday evening and was loud enough to set off car alarms in Hawaii Kai.

Showers will diminish on Oahu and Kauai today, and Darby’s counterclockwise winds could bring Kona winds to Oahu early in the day.

Forecasters predict Darby will be a tropical depression, with wind speeds below 39 mph, by this afternoon as it churns to the northwest of Kauai.

Darby made landfall as a tropical storm Saturday on the Kau Coast, flooding roads, downing trees and scattering power outages on Hawaii island and Maui. The storm brought much-needed rainfall to parts of the state with as much as 10 inches in Paauilo on the Big Island and almost 13 inches in western Wailuaiki on Maui, according to the National Weather Service.

Over a 24-hour period ending 7:45 p.m. Sunday, the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Pearl City recorded the highest rainfall total on Oahu with 15.89 inches.

On Hawaii island a 65-foot commercial passenger boat broke free from its moorings during the storm Sunday morning at Kailua Bay and ran aground on rocks off the Kona Coast.

No one was aboard the Spirit of Kona at the time, the Coast Guard said.

The boat, operated by Blue Sea Cruises, had the potential to carry 600 gallons of fuel and had commercial batteries and 19.5 gallons of hydraulic and lube oils on board, the Coast Guard said.

Responders saw a rainbow sheen about 120 yards long by 53 yards wide in the area but could not recover the spill, the Coast Guard said. No wildlife was reportedly affected.

Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, asked the public to stay away from the shoreline between Kamehameha Hotel and Kukailimoku lighthouse because of the debris from the vessel and the odor of fuel in the area.

State and Coast Guard representatives were investigating, and the boat owner arranged for salvage of the vessel, Ward said.

Also on the Big Island, Hawaii Electric Light Co. restored power to about 900 customers in parts of Hamakua, upper Puna and Kona that had been hit by high wind the day before. About 100 customers remained without power until 5:45 p.m. Sunday in Hawaiian Paradise Park, Leilani Estates, Kapoho, Orchidland Estates, Honokaa and Kailua-Kona as a result of high wind, a company spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile the state issued brown-water advisories for the Big Island, Maui and Oahu, urging the public to stay out of floodwaters and stormwater runoff because of possible debris in the water, the Department of Health said.

On Oahu, rainfall was light to heavy and intermittent across the island. By 4 p.m. two power poles were reported to be down in Waimanalo and Hauula, but no major incidents had been reported, said Jesse Broder Van Dyke, spokesman for the mayor’s office, in an email.

No major flooding was reported by the afternoon, and no homeowners requested damage assessments at the time, he said.

The American Red Cross opened seven shelters on Oahu at 7 a.m., but by 4 p.m. only two had people move in.

McKinley High School received four people and one dog. About 160 campers stayed at the Brigham Young University-Hawaii shelter.

Stephanie Blain, a supervisor with Quebec-based Makwa Adventures, said about 160 high school students on a summer vacation from various parts of France were staying at the shelter. The students, who are spending a week in Hawaii, were camping at Malaekahana State Park before the tour company moved them to the shelter out of concern for their safety.

She said the tents were soaked when the students were packing up Sunday morning to head to the shelter.

By the afternoon the students were sitting inside the college’s gymnasium in their sleeping bags, watching a movie or talking in groups.

“Now they are happy,” Blain said. “This is better.”

Blain said another group of students was arriving at the airport Sunday night, bringing the total of French students at the shelter to about 200.

The state reopened east-side state parks on the Big Island and were checking parks on the Kona side. State workers were checking Maui state parks for any problems.

State parks remained open on Oahu and Kauai except for Kalalau Trail on Kauai, which was closed as a precautionary measure, said Ward, the DLNR spokeswoman. State forest reserves and trails remained closed until further notice.

A high-surf advisory remained in effect until 6 a.m. today with surf predicted to be 6 to 9 feet along east-facing shores.