Rain, strong winds and high surf were lashing at the eastern edge of Hawaii as the state braced early Friday for Iselle, which the National Weather Service has now downgraded to a tropical storm.
Iselle is located about 50 miles off of Hawaii with early Friday ET with sustained winds of 70 mph, the NWS said.
Hurricane Julio, a Category 3 storm, is about 1,000 miles behind in the Pacific.
Iselle, which is moving at 10 mph, is expected to send rain and high winds to the state Friday. It's been 22 years since a tropical storm has hit Hawaii.
Across Hawaii, people have flowed into emergency shelters, airlines have canceled flights and the National Guard is at the ready.
On Thursday, long lines formed at some local stores, and bottled water and other hunker-down items flew off shelves.
Roger Acpal, a manager at a Costco near downtown Honolulu, said sales are brisk "but we are able to keep up with demand so far.''
"We got slammed as soon as the announcement about the hurricane came out," Acpal said. "Water, canned goods, generators and camping stoves were what people were buying."
Cher Takemoto, a teacher at Moanalua High School in Honolulu, said: "We've had so many tsunami warnings where nothing happened. Maybe this time it's real. We're praying for the best."
Contributing: John Bacon; Mike Tsukamoto in Honolulu; Associated Press
