'Things are going to break': Hawaii braces for Hurricane Lane

Torrential rains pummeled Hawaii on Friday as Hurricane Lane swirled toward the island state, triggering landslides, "catastrophic" flooding and prompting stark warnings from authorities. 

In its 1200 GMT bulletin, the Honolulu-based branch of the National Weather Service said the now Category Three hurricane was packing winds in excess of 120 miles per hour (195 kilometers per hour).

Currently located some 200 miles south of the state capital Honolulu, Hurricane Lane's center was forecast to track over or "dangerously close" to parts of the main Hawaiian islands later Friday and into the night.

Brock Long, administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), warned of major disruptions to the power grid. 

"Citizens need to realize that we are looking at major hurricane impacts and things are going to break," Long said.

"We need to set the expectation that the power could go off for quite some time and the infrastructure is going to be heavily impacted."

The archipelago's Big Island has already been deluged with "catastrophic flooding," the NWS said. 

Over two feet of rain have fallen at several locations on the windward side of the Big Island, the National Hurricane Center said, with 30 to 40 inches possible over some areas throughout the state.

Emergency teams have set up 16 evacuation centers, with a further 19 due to open later as President Donald Trump, who has declared a state of emergency, urged Hawaiians to hunker down and prepare for the worst.

"Our teams are closely coordinating with the state and local authorities. You are in our thoughts!" Trump tweeted.

Some 1,500 residents have already sought shelter in temporary evacuation centers, mainly in and around Honolulu, said Brad Kieserman, vice president of Disaster Services Operations and Logistics for the American Red Cross.

"I definitely expect to see an increase in population as the storm continues to approach," he added.

- 'Panic mode' -
Residents across the state stocked up on water, food, gasoline and emergency supplies as Lane drew nearer.

"Last couple of days it's been like this -- it's been busy," said Chris, an employee at a gas station in Haleiwa, on the north shore of Oahu island -- the location of the capital Honolulu.

"We have been just constantly getting cars filling up. Everybody is in a panic mode right now -- everyone is filling up gas, gas cans, propane cans and all that."

Sea levels were expected to rise as much as two to four feet above normal tide levels, causing coastal erosion and prompting a storm surge and "large and destructive waves," forecasters said.

Surfers could be seen taking advantage of the calm before the storm to get out on their boards one last time before the ocean got too violent.

- Flights canceled -
United Airlines said it canceled all Friday flights to and from Kahului airport on Maui, the second-largest island.

The US Coast Guard said 57,000 US military personnel already stationed in Hawaii were ready to provide logistical and medical support or conduct search and rescue missions operations. 

"Hurricane Lane is not a well-behaved hurricane," Governor David Ige said in a statement as he declared a state of emergency Tuesday on the Big Island. 

"I've not seen such dramatic changes in the forecast track as I've seen with this storm."

Hurricanes rarely make landfall in Hawaii and the last major storm to strike the state was nearly three decades ago, when Hurricane Iniki barreled into the island of Kauai, leaving six dead and causing billions of dollars in damage.

Federal officials have been working with Hawaiian utility managers to keep a close eye on the power grid, a major vulnerability in Puerto Rico last year when it was hit by Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm.

Hurricane-related deaths in Puerto Rico have been estimated at as many as 4,600 people, largely because prolonged and widespread power outages and washed out roads prevented access to health care, US researchers said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Lava flow stalls, sparing Hawaii geothermal plant from more damage

HONOLULU - A lava flow from Hawaii's erupting Kilauea volcano that damaged a geothermal power station has stalled, as have lava fountains gushing 100 feet (30 meters) into the air, offering momentary relief to an area under siege for 25 days, officials said on Monday.

Even so, new blasts from the crater sent ash plumes billowing as high as 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) into the sky, and a new fissure was pumping out lava at a rate of three feet (1 meter) per second, geologists said.

The new fissure sent more lava into the to evacuated Leilani Estates district in the eastern corner of Hawaii's Big Island.

Because the lava was spread out over a wide area, the frontier of the flow was only moving at about three feet per second, Carolyn Parcheta, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said in a video message posted online.

Lava engulfed the heads of two wells that tap into steam and gas deep in the Earth's core at the 38-megawatt Puna Geothermal Venture on Saturday. Its operator, Israeli-controlled Ormat Technologies Inc, said it had not been able to assess the damage.

Residents fear the wells may be explosive. Officials have said the power plant is safe but lava has never engulfed a geothermal plant anywhere in the world, leaving a measure of uncertainty.

The lava flow at PGV stalled on Monday, Hawaii County spokeswoman Janet Snyder said.

Ormat said the plant represented about 4.5 percent of its total generating capacity and that major damage or a shutdown could have an "adverse impact" on the company's business.

Authorities have shut down the plant, removed 60,000 gallons (230,000 liters) of flammable liquid, and deactivated the wells.

At least 82 homes have been destroyed in the southeast corner of Big Island and about 2,000 people have been ordered evacuated since Kilauea began erupting on May 3.

About 2,200 acres (890 hectares) have been scorched and the eruptions are expected to cut tourism revenues.

The sole reported serious injury from the eruption so far came when a man was hit by flying lava.

An eruption from the summit's Halemaumau crater on Monday sent ash almost 15,000 feet (4,600 m) into the air, a National Weather Service meteorologist said. Hawaii County officials later cut the estimated height to 13,000 feet.

Magma has drained from Kilauea's summit lava lake and flowed around 25 miles (40 km) east underground, bursting out of about two dozen giant cracks or fissures. 

(Reporting by Joyln Rosa in Honolulu; Additional reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Tom Brown)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Abe, Obama agree to closely monitor movements of China carrier

HONOLULU - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed Tuesday to closely monitor the movements of China's first and sole aircraft carrier, which has sailed into the western Pacific for the first time, Japanese officials said.

In their last meeting before Obama leaves office next month, the two leaders affirmed that movements by the Chinese carrier Liaoning "warrant close attention from mid-term and long-term perspectives," the officials said.

Late last week, the Liaoning advanced into the western Pacific after passing the so-called "first island chain," a sea defense line China unilaterally draws running from southern Japan to Taiwan, the Philippines and the southern South China Sea.

Military experts suspect China will launch its first domestically made aircraft carrier next year.

In light of Beijing's rising maritime activity, Abe and Obama agreed in the meeting in Honolulu that it is important for Tokyo and Washington to expand alliance networks with Australia, India and other countries so as to make the Indo-Pacific free and open and ensure stability and prosperity in the region, according to the officials.

Referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, Abe told Obama that he will "tenaciously" urge the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump to promote the 12-nation trade deal, they said.

Abe said Japan will continue to advocate free trade. Obama was quoted as saying he will step up efforts to promote understanding on the TPP in the United States.

While Japan has ratified the pact, championed by Obama as a main pillar of his policy of a U.S. strategic rebalance to Asia, Trump has pledged to withdraw the United States from it once he takes office on Jan. 20.

On North Korea, Abe and Obama affirmed the need to strictly implement the latest U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution in response to Pyongyang's fifth and largest nuclear test in September, according to the officials.

The leaders also underscored the importance of closely coordinating trilateral security policy with South Korea, they said.

On Okinawa, Abe expressed regret over the crash landing of a U.S. Marines Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft off Nago on Dec. 13, and requested that the United States provide more information and increase efforts to ensure the safety involving the aircraft.

The United States will closely communicate with Japan over the matter, Obama was quoted as saying.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Tsunami hits Hawaii; PH to be spared

A tsunami generated by an earthquake in Canada hit the US state of Hawaii late Saturday, an official from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center announced late Saturday (Sunday afternoon in Manila).

"The tsunami is arriving right now," Gerard Fryer, a senior geophysicist with the center, told reporters. "It is coming in as we speak."

A major 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook the Queen Charlotte Islands off the west coast of Canada late Saturday, US government researchers said.

The epicenter of the tremor, which occurred at 8:04 pm (0304 GMT Sunday) was located 139 kilometers (86 miles) south of the town of Masset, the US Geological Survey said.

Numerous aftershocks, some as large as magnitude 4.6, followed the initial quake, Canadian officials reported.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, meanwhile, assured there is no threat of tsunami in the Philippines.

Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum, in a text message, said: "Based on the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center latest bulletin released related to the Queen Charlotte Islands region earthquake, there is no destructive widespread threat for the Pacific Ocean. This information covers the Philippines."

He said Phivolcs will continuously monitor the situation. – with Agence France Presse

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Hawaii ends tsunami evacuation

Hawaii dropped a tsunami warning and evacuations Sunday after a major earthquake off Canada's west coast Saturday night.

After the warning was posted by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Gov. Neil Abercrombie declared an emergency and officials began evacuating coastal and low-lying areas, KITV News in Honolulu reported.

The first small tsunami waves were seen off Hawaii about six hours after the earthquake, CNN said.

Five hours after the evacuations were ordered, the National Weather Service said the threat of a tsunami had decreased and was not expected to rise again.

Regardless, all beaches remained closed and Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle urged residents to stay ashore, HawaiiNewsNow reported.

"Right now, we do not feel it is safe for anyone to go into the water," the mayor said.

The major magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck in the Haida Gwaii archipelago along Canada's western coast Saturday night, U.S. seismologists said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake occurred at 8:04 p.m. local time about 10.9 miles deep. It was centered occurred along British Columbia's coast, about 86 miles south of Masset and about 395 miles south-southeast of Juneau, Alaska

A tsunami warning was also issued by the West Coast-Alaska Tsunami Warning Center from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to Cape Decision, Alaska, although it was downgraded to an advisory soon after.

Despite the quake's magnitude, there were no immediate reports of injuries or significant damage in the mostly rural islands of British Columbia.

The Toronto Star's western bureau reported the initial quake was followed by at least two aftershocks.

"We were just sitting down relaxing and all of a sudden -- boom! I thought it was a major landslide," Dave Martynuik, who lives in the village of Queen Charlotte in the Haida Gwaii, told the newspaper in a phone interview.

source: upi.com

Thousands stranded as Air Australia goes bust

SYDNEY — Budget carrier Air Australia collapsed Friday, stranding thousands of passengers as its domestic flights and international services to Honolulu, Bali and Phuket were all grounded.

The news came a day after embattled Australian flag carrier Qantas said it was slashing at least 500 jobs, cutting costs and closing two international routes after posting an 83% slump in first-half net profits.

In a statement on its website, the Brisbane-based Air Australia, whose 300 staff have been stood down, said it had appointed KordaMentha as voluntary administrators.

“In the short-term, the fleet will be grounded. It currently appears that there are no funds available to meet operational expenses so flights will be suspended immediately,” the administrator said. “For clarity, it also appears highly unlikely there will be any flights in the short to medium term.”

Air Australia flew international routes to the Indonesian island of Bali, Thai holiday paradise Phuket, and Hawaii, and domestically to Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth, Derby and Port Hedland in Western Australia.

Administrator Mark Korda said up to 4,000 passengers were currently overseas with Air Australia return tickets and advised them to find alternative arrangements.

He told ABC radio the airline was unable to buy fuel at Phuket International Airport on Thursday night, prompting fears about the airline’s solvency.

“Air Australia was unable to purchase fuel in Phuket to refuel the planes, so the directors had a meeting at 1.30 this morning and appointed us as administrators due to the solvency of the company,” Korda said. “The supplier of the fuel wouldn’t grant any further credit to the company.”
Reports said a flight out of Honolulu was also refused fuel.

The carrier, previously known as Strategic Airlines and relaunched in November 2011 to cash in on underserviced routes, flew five Airbus A330-200 and A320-200 aircraft.

Stranded passengers said they were left in the dark.

“There’s actually no one at the airport from Air Australia,” Wesa Chau, who was waiting for her flight in Phuket, told Australian media. “They offered no assistance whatsoever.”

The collapse came as a Thai flight attendant told ABC the carrier was paying her far below the Australian minimum wage.

Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten said he was very concerned by the allegations.

Korda said he was hoping to find investors to save the airline.

“Hopefully we can find a white knight, if not, the operations will stay suspended and then what we’ll do is we’ll follow up with everybody about how did this all happen?” he said.

Qantas chief Alan Joyce, whose own airline has been hit hard by soaring fuel costs and a fleet grounding last year due to labor disputes, said he would do what he could to help stranded passengers.

“If the (Air Australia) passengers come to a Qantas desk, a Jetstar desk, show their ticket, we’ll give them a ticket for the same value they’ve paid with Air Australia,” he said.

Hawaiian Airlines said it would offer special one-way “rescue” fares.

source: japantoday.com