Hurricane Hone brushes past Hawaii

LOS ANGELES, United States: Hone, a Category 1 hurricane, brushed past Hawaii´s Big Island on Sunday, bringing tropical storm conditions with rain and swells, the US Central Pacific Hurricane Centre said.

The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 130-kms per hour, was “passing just south of South Point on the Big Island,” the agency said at 2:00 am local time (1200 GMT).

Tropical storm conditions were expected on the Big Island “through the early morning hours,” with rain of up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) and large swells, the center continued.

Local TV station KHON2 said beaches had been closed and emergency shelters opened, while Hawaiian Electric reported more than 7,000 customers without power.

Behind Hone, whose name is Hawaiian for “sweet and soft,” was Hurricane Gilma, a Category 4 monster storm on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale.

Gilma was still some 1,480 miles from Hawaii, and expected to weaken, the hurricane center said.