Tess Kala, a South Point resident who grew up in the area, said the back-to-back storms are a shock to locals.
“Honestly, this is the first like, whoa, what happened? We had a lot of family and friends that have lived here all their lives through generations and never experienced this before,” she said.
Now she is preparing for Nolo by “moving everything away from the houses, tying things down, making sure that everything is hosed up and taped up as best as we possibly can.”
Nolo will bring periods of heavy rain that will continue across Big Island and Maui over the weekend, and could trigger life-threatening catastrophic flooding and mudslides, especially in steep terrain across eastern and southern portions of both Big Island and Maui, the hurricane center said.
Nolo is forecast to dump 10 to 15 inches of rain, with up to 25 inches forecasted, in eastern and southern parts of Big Island. Western portions of Big Island could see two to four inches of rain with maximum amounts of eight inches. Meanwhile, Maui could see four to six inches, with maximum amounts of 10 inches, the National Hurricane Center said.
The rest of Hawaii will experience lesser rainfall totals but isolated flooding is possible.
Nolo could also bring large and damaging waves along portions of Big Island’s coastline into the weekend.
A hurricane watch and tropical storm warning are in effect for Hawaii County and a tropical storm watch is in effect for Maui County. A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within 24-36 hours. A wind advisory has been issued for the rest of the state.
Tropical storm force winds will reach the Big Island on Friday afternoon, with hurricane force winds possible by late evening.
A high surf advisory is in effect for south and east facing shores of Big Island and east facing shores of Maui and Molokai. A high surf advisory was also issued for east facing shores of Niihau, Kauai, and Oahu beginning Friday evening.
Nolo could also spawn tornadoes and large waterspouts over and near Big Island and to the right of the track of the tropical cyclone.
Marlene Lenthang reported from Los Angeles and Ryan Chandler and Shanshan Dong from Naalehu.
