Hurricane wanes to storm level off Hawaii

Andre Anton is blocked from gathering belongings from his home Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., after a tree knocked over by Tropical Storm Hermine fell on the house. A state of emergency has been declared for 42 counties in Florida as Hermine gains strength. Off Hawaii, Hurricane Madeline weakened into a tropical storm as it veered away from the islands.
Andre Anton is blocked from gathering belongings from his home Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., after a tree knocked over by Tropical Storm Hermine fell on the house. A state of emergency has been declared for 42 counties in Florida as Hermine gains strength. Off Hawaii, Hurricane Madeline weakened into a tropical storm as it veered away from the islands.

HILO, Hawaii -- Forecasters on Wednesday downgraded Hurricane Madeline to a tropical storm, easing a previously issued warning for Hawaii's Big Island as the storm trekked south of the island.

The development came as merchants boarded up shop windows along Hilo Bay and shoppers snatched food and water from store shelves after initially being told the island could be hit by its first hurricane in a quarter-century.

The National Weather Service downgraded its alert to a tropical-storm warning as Madeline was about 95 miles southeast of Hilo. By Wednesday evening, sustained winds swirled at 65 mph, below hurricane strength of 74 mph, and forecasters said continued weakening over the coming days was expected.

Residents were still advised to take precautions to protect themselves and their property.

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"It doesn't matter if it's a strong tropical storm or a Category 1 hurricane," said Eric Lau, a meteorologist with the weather service. "If you have 70 mph winds versus 75 mph winds, it's still a strong storm, so residents still need to be prepared."

The center of the storm is not expected to make landfall on any Hawaiian island.

Surf was building, and the waves outside Hilo Harbor were about 12 feet high, Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Ed Teixeira said.

"Hopefully our roofs stay on, and our houses don't float way or get blown away," said Big Island resident Mitzi Bettencourt, who covered walls of windows with boards at her brother's oceanfront home. "It's like, 'Oh my God, are we going to get flattened or what?'"

Peggy Beckett, a retiree and beekeeper, stopped at a Hilo supermarket to pick up onion bagels, cheese, cold cuts and salad to add to her canned food at home. She also has a cooler with ice plus a portable burner and batteries to get her through the storm.

Noting the lines at the market, Beckett said people were getting prepared but weren't panicking.

"There's always a lot of disbelief on the island that the storms will really be as big and bad as forecast," she said, noting that she and her partner had taken precautions to protect their beehives.

A second Pacific depression, Hurricane Lester, was far from Hawaii and was expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it passes the state.

Elsewhere, the National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Hermine had formed in the Gulf of Mexico and was centered about 315 miles from Tampa, Fla. It was expected to pick up speed and approach the northwest Florida coast tonight. A hurricane warning was issued for that area.

The center also issued a tropical-storm watch for parts of Georgia and South Carolina, which could be hit by strong wind and heavy rainfall from Hermine heading into Labor Day weekend.

Information for this article was contributed by Josh Lederman of The Associated Press.

A Section on 09/01/2016

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