Giuseppe Manone boards up the windows of a store in Hilo, Hawaii as Hurricane Madeline approached the Big Island on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016. Drier air and strong upper atmosphere winds are weakening Hurricane Madeline as it approaches Hawaii. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
The Associated Press
HILO, Hawaii (AP) - A tropical storm left parts of Hawaii's Big Island soggy but intact Thursday as residents of the island state prepare for a second round of potentially volatile tropical weather.
Hawaii Island was pummeled with heavy rains and strong waves overnight, but residents woke to blue skies but little damage after Madeline skirted the island. Hurricane Lester remains on track to impact the islands this weekend, but possibly after being downgraded to a tropical storm.
"So, really grateful for this respite today. I saw the sun this morning when I was driving into work," Kanani Aton, a spokeswoman for the Hawaii County civil defense agency, said Thursday.
The National Weather Service o dropped the tropical storm warning for Madeline on Thursday.
"It has passed south of our island," Aton said.
Several roads and a bridge that were closed because of flooding have reopened, she said. All county and state facilities, including bus and solid waste service, were to resume Thursday.
Parks will not reopen until damage assessment teams have a chance to investigate, Aton said. At one park, water has receded after waves crashed into a seawall that surrounds Liliuokalani Gardens Park at Hilo Bay. Water had accumulated on the grass of the gardens, leaving stairs of a pavilion partially submerged.
Damage assessment teams will also be in targeted areas, such as places prone to flooding, Aton said.
Before the storm brushed by, some merchants had placed plywood on windows facing Hilo Bay. But other windows that hadn't been covered didn't show signs of damage at first light Thursday morning.
On Oahu, gusty winds continued throughout the night with power lost in some Honolulu neighborhoods. Transformers were seen flaring in one hillside community overlooking the state's largest city as the lights went dark.
Some tree branches were littering the ground Thursday morning, but no major damage was immediately visible.
The storm didn't keep President Obama from visiting Honolulu Thursday on his way to Midway Atoll.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Lester was about 920 miles from Hawaii and expected to drop to a tropical storm by Sunday.
Aton said civil defense officials expect heavy rains, winds and high surf to start as early as Saturday from Lester.
One business was thinking ahead to Lester as they boarded up windows at Hulakai Store, a surf shop in Hilo, on Wednesday ahead of Madeline. "We'll probably keep it up till Sunday, waiting for the second one to come through," said supervisor Renee Balanga.
Gov. David Ige has issued an emergency proclamation for both Madeline and Lester, allowing the state to quickly spend money.
Elsewhere, forecasters say Tropical Storm Hermine could strike the South as a hurricane.
A hurricane warning was in effect for Florida's Big Bend from the Suwannee River to Mexico Beach. And on the East Coast, a tropical storm warning was issued for an area extending from Marineland, Florida, northward to the South Santee River in South Carolina.
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AP writers Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, and Cathy Bussewitz, Caleb Jones and Josh Lederman in Honolulu contributed to this report.
People jump into Hilo Bay in Hilo, Hawaii, as Topical Storm Madeline drops rain on Hawaii's Big Island, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016. Forecasters downgraded Madeline from a hurricane to a tropical storm as it veered past Hawaii's Big Island, but officials reiterated warnings to prepare for heavy rain and strong winds. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
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A group of men walk in the rain along Hilo Bay in Hilo, Hawaii, as Topical Storm Madeline drops rain on Hawaii's Big Island, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016. Forecasters downgraded Madeline from a hurricane to a tropical storm as it veered past Hawaii's Big Island, but officials reiterated warnings to prepare for heavy rain and strong winds. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
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Renee Balanga, Hulakai store supervisor, walks in front of boarded up windows at her store in Hilo, Hawaii, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016. Forecasters downgraded Hurricane Madeline to a tropical storm as the system veered past Hawaii's Big Island. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
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Workers board up the windows of a store in Hilo, Hawaii as Hurricane Madeline approached the Big Island on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016. Drier air and strong upper atmosphere winds are weakening Hurricane Madeline as it approaches Hawaii. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
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People jog in Hilo, Hawaii on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016, as a storm approaches the Big Island of Hawaii. Forecasters downgraded Hurricane Madeline to a tropical storm as the system veered past Hawaii's Big Island. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
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This satellite image taken Monday, Aug. 29, 2016 and released by NASA shows Hurricane Madeline, left, and Hurricane Lester over the Pacific Ocean in a composite built from two overpasses by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on the Suomi NPP satellite. The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning as the storm dubbed Madeline churned west Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016, toward the island, urging residents to rush through preparations to protect themselves and their property and expect hurricane conditions within the next 36 hours. (NASA via AP)
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Lynn Scott and Ralph Gibson hug under the red high hazard flag, on one of the dune crossovers, as dark clouds from a storm hang over the ocean on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2106 in Jacksonville Beach, Fla. As Tropical Storm Hermine swept ashore early Thursday, residents from Tampa to Tallahassee to Destin prepared by filling sandbags, avoiding flooded roads and by toting surfboards into the normally placid Gulf of Mexico. (Bruce Lipsky/The Florida Times-Union via AP)
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Workers install flashing around the roof and windows of restaurant in preparation of Tropical Storm Hermine Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016, in Cedar Key, Fla. Forecasters say Hermine could be near hurricane strength by Thursday night as it approaches the Gulf Coast. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
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Okato Nakamura heads to the beach to surf the swell from Tropical Storm Hermine at St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach, Fla., Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Tropical Storm Hermine is gaining strength as it rumbles toward Florida's Gulf Coast. (Andrew Wardlow/News Herald via AP)
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