Tropical Storm Hone continued to move away from Hawaii's main islands Monday morning, leaving heavy rain and flash flooding in its wake, the National Hurricane Center said.
Hone strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane early Sunday morning as it inched closer to the Big Island. By Sunday evening, it was notching maximum sustained winds of up to 75 mph as it hovered about 160 miles south-southwest of Honolulu.
But Hone was downgraded to a tropical storm in a Monday morning update from the NHC, which confirmed that it will continue its track away from Hawaii. There are no longer any coastal watches or warnings in place.
The storm is continuing to lose strength after maximum sustained winds were measured at 85 mph earlier Sunday with current gusts at 65 mph, according to hurricane center data. Hone is around 240 miles west-southwest of Honolulu and moving west at 13 mph. This movement will continue over the next few days and the storm is expected to pass north of Johnston Island Tuesday night.
The hurricane center warned that the island's residents could get anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of rain and an additional 3 to 5 inches in south-facing slopes, which can lead to flooding. "Life-threatening" surf can also be expected on the island Sunday, the hurricane center said.
Video from Hawaii's Big Island showed muddy waters rushing down the Mamalahoa Highway near Nāʻālehu.
Most of the island, including Hilo and Waimea, was covered in flash flood warnings until early Monday morning, the National Weather Service office in Honolulu said.
On Sunday afternoon, some flights at Hilo International Airport were canceled and airlines were making "case by case decisions" about which ones will take off, the state Transportation Department said.
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park closed its Mauna Loa summit and coastal backcountry areas to hiking and camping because of tropical storm conditions on the island, the National Park Service said in a news release.
NBC News unearthed social media video from the Big Island that showed trees shaking in the wind amid heavy downpours.
A little over 2,900 utility customers are still out of power on Hawaii's Big Island as of Monday morning, according to PowerOutage.US. More than 24,000 utility customers were without power on Sunday night.
