Cross Blog

Red Cross prepares as Felicia heads toward Hawaii

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

From RedCross.org:
The American Red Cross is ready to help as residents of Hawaii brace themselves for the arrival of Tropical Storm Felicia sometime Tuesday.
For nearly a week, the Red Cross Hawaii State Chapter has been recruiting and training local volunteers to help with anticipated shelter and feeding needs.  In addition, the chapter’s emergency response teams will be equipped with the Rapid Data Management System (RDMS).  These handheld devices allow for faster, more accurate reporting of damage assessment to dwellings such as homes and apartment buildings.

The Pacific storm was expected to bring high winds and heavy rain to the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Oahu.  According to news reports, a flash flood watch has been issued for the islands and officials are warning residents to be on the alert for high surf.

From Red Cross Chat

Little known facts about storms named Felicia:
According to Wikipedia, the name Felicia has been used for three tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Felicia replaced Fefa, which was retired following the 1991 season.

1997’s Hurricane Felicia
2003’s Tropical Storm Felicia
2009’s Hurricane Felicia

You can follow @AmericanRedCrossHI on Twitter for updates from the Hawaii Red Cross as the storm moves through.

Follow NOAA updates. Here’s the latest issued at 2 a.m. August 10:

...FELICIA AIMING TOWARD THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS…

A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR OAHU...THE BIG ISLAND
OF HAWAII...AND FOR ALL OF MAUI COUNTY...WHICH INCLUDES THE
ISLANDS OF MAUI...KAHOOLAWE...LANAI...AND MOLOKAI. A TROPICAL
STORM WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE
WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN THE NEXT 36 TO 48 HOURS.
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MAY BE REQUIRED FOR PORTIONS OF THE AREA
CURRENTLY UNDER THE WATCH LATER TODAY.

INTERESTS ON KAUAI AND NIIHAU SHOULD CONTINUE TO CLOSELY MONITOR
THE FUTURE PROGRESS OF FELICIA.

AT 200 AM HST...1200 UTC...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM FELICIA
WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 20.6 NORTH...LONGITUDE 149.7 WEST OR
ABOUT 355 MILES EAST-NORTHEAST OF HILO...HAWAII AND ABOUT 530
MILES EAST OF HONOLULU...HAWAII.

FELICIA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 10 MPH AND THIS MOTION IS
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY. ON THIS TRACK...THE OUTER
WINDS FROM FELICIA ARE EXPECTED TO REACH THE EASTERNMOST HAWAIIAN
ISLANDS LATE TONIGHT.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 50 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. GRADUAL
WEAKENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. FELICIA IS
EXPECTED TO REACH THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS AS EITHER A TROPICAL STORM
OR A TROPICAL DEPRESSION.

TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS NOW EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 140 MILES FROM
THE CENTER.