Hawaii’s Big Island braces for Hurricane Flossie

The island of Hawaii has declared a state of emergency, closing schools and....

  The island of Hawaii has declared a state of emergency, closing schools and setting up shelters as Hurricane Flossie approaches from the south-east.Flossie weakened from a Category Four to a Category Three today, but remains a “dangerous hurricane with a clear, well-defined eye,” according to the US National Weather Service’s Central Pacific Hurricane Centre.The last recorded hurricane to hit the island of Hawaii was the Kohala Cyclone in 1871. More recently, tropical storms Estelle and Jimena both passed south of the island of Hawaii in 2004 and 2003.The service put the island of Hawaii under a hurricane watch early today and said Flossie would come within 140km of the Big Island around 2pm local time (9am WA time) tomorrow.Winds of 65-80kmh and five metre plus surf will be accompanied by 25cm of torrential rain along the south-east shore, said Ray Tanabe, National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist.Island of Hawaii Mayor Harry Kim issued a state of emergency for the volcanic island’s population of 160,000.