San Francisco Frontiers - Hawaii's Big Island begins recovery efforts as Hurricane Lala downgrades, moves west

At a news conference Sunday, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said officials are still investigating whether any storm-related deaths had occurred.

"We're praying that there are essentially no fatalities. The question is a difficult one to answer in some ways," Green said, noting that there was a "terrible car accident" that could have been storm-related, and "we often have a person found every couple days that may be houseless on the street, who may have passed away."

Additionally, Hawaii Emergency Management Director Randy Collins warned the storm may have passed but there were still dangers to face in coming hours.

"Many casualties often happen after the disaster," Collins told reporters. "As people are cleaning things up, they're working with heavy equipment, chainsaws, generators. They're working around downed power lines and so forth. That's when the casualties come."

Lala was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm in the early morning hours of Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center's update at 2:00 am local time (1200 GMT).

It had strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday, generating winds of up to 75 miles per hour (120 kilometers per hour).

"The hurricane could maintain its intensity for a few more hours, but weakening is expected by early Sunday as Lala continues to pull away from the Big Island," NHC officials said.

Aside from the Big Island, tropical storm warnings were issued for the state's seven other major islands: Maui, Molokai, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau.

A maximum storm total of 30 to 35 inches (76 to 89 centimeters) of rainfall was expected over the windward Big Island.

The heavy rain and flood risk spread westward across the island chain on Sunday, according to the NHC.

Lala did not make landfall. The state was last hit by a "major" hurricane -- meaning Category 3, 4, or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale -- in 1992, when Hurricane Iniki caused at least six deaths and billions of dollars in damage.

Hawaii was menaced by Hurricane Fausto last month, before the storm weakened and skirted north of the island chain.

- El Nino -

The storm comes as a powerful El Nino has formed in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Temperatures are already so high that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now predicts a 69 percent chance of a "historic event that would exceed the strength of previous El Nino events dating back to 1950" when it peaks between October and December.

El Nino, a natural climate pattern when sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean become unusually warm, tends to promote hurricane activity in the Pacific while suppressing it in the Atlantic.

Human-caused climate change can amplify El Nino's impacts because a warmer ocean and atmosphere increase the availability of energy and moisture for extreme weather events, such as heat waves and heavy rainfall.

U.Lee--SFF