Trouble in paradise? Hawaii braced for first hurricane in 22 years

The first hurricane expected to hit Hawaii in 22 years weakened slightly Thursday as its outer edges began to bring rain and wind to the Big Island. The eye of Hurricane Iselle was about 400 km southeast of Hilo, moving at roughly 7.6 km per hour and expected to make landfall Thursday evening, according to the National Weather Service. Meanwhile, Hurricane Julio strengthened early Thursday into a Category 2 storm but was forecast to pass just north of the islands sometime Sunday morning.

Not a major hurricane, but definitely enough to blow things around.

Meteorologist Mike Cantin of the National Weather Service

Hawaii has been directly hit by hurricanes only three times since 1950, though the region has had 147 tropical storms over that time. The last time Hawaii was hit with a hurricane was in 1992, when Iniki killed six people and destroyed more than 1,400 homes in Kauai, meteorologist Eric Lau said. The twin hurricanes have disrupted tourism, prompted flash flood warnings and led to school closures.

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