FOX6's Brandon Cruz talks with us from Hawaii, as Tropical Storm Iselle makes landfall
HAWAII (WITI) -- Tropical Storm Iselle has made landfall in Hawaii -- and behind it, Hurricane Julio. Had Iselle remained a hurricane, it would have been the first to hit Hawaii in decades. Hurricane Julio has strengthened to a Category 3 -- and is expected to affect Hawaii over the weekend -- though it will likely simply brush the state as it passed to the north as a weakened tropical storm. FOX6's Brandon Cruz is currently in Hawaii. He was hoping for a vacation in the sun -- but he says he's not the only one watching the storm closely.
Rain, wind and a strong surf lashed at Hawaii's eastern edge on Friday, August 8th -- as Iselle made landfall.
The storm was downgraded to a tropical storm as it approached the Big Island -- but the storm was still packing a punch -- with powerful wind gusts up to 70 miles-per-hour.
"We take this all very, very seriously," Rose Gray with Fox World Travel said.
Gray says the company currently has a couple dozen vacationers in Hawaii -- all of which have been contacted.
"A couple of them who happen to be in Maui are taking a "wait and see" attitude at this time. They aren`t making any rash decisions," Gray said.
Iselle has cancelled some flights -- and with Hurricane Julio on the horizon, more cancellations are possible.
"Some of these people are not going to have much of a choice. They`re just going to hunker down with the locals," Gray said.
FOX6's Brandon Cruz is in Hawaii with his wife on the Island of Oahu -- 30 minutes west of the city of Honolulu.
On Thursday, Cruz says skies were blue, but on Friday -- not so much.
"It's just a rain event. It's not even a real storm, I would say -- just because the winds are very calm," Brandon Cruz said.
The effects of what could come could be seen across the string of islands.
"I think it was most noticeable when I went to the grocery store earlier in the week. The aisle with the bottled water was completely empty. It`s kind of like that in a number of stores in the area from my understanding," Brandon Cruz said.
Cruz is scheduled to fly out on Saturday -- as are several of Gray's travelers. So far, those flights are looking like they'll be a go.
Gray says she has several others scheduled to leave next week -- so she says she'll be assessing the damage to determine whether her resorts are habitable.
NOAA is monitoring both Iselle and Julio. CLICK HERE to access NOAA’s Central Pacific Hurricane Center — a website that’s being continuously updated.
CLICK HERE to access AccuWeather.com’s “Hurricane” page.
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