While parts of Hawaii’s Big Island are still recovering from the heavy rains and strong winds of Tropical Storm Hone, residents throughout the state are preparing for Hurricane Gilma this Tuesday.

The storm, classified as a Category 2 hurricane, has not yet resulted in any land warnings, but meteorologists caution that Gilma may bring intense rain, strong winds, and hazardous rip currents as the week progresses. Many residents started their preparations for this unusual sequence of storms, even as troubles persisted from the rainfall over a foot in some areas of Big Island due to Hone.

In the Lower Puna area, situated just south of Hilo on the Big Island, Laurie Lyon-Makaimoku and her family retrieved their camping stove and propane tank from their garage, ensuring they harvested their avocados and breadfruit from their trees before the winds from Gilma arrived.

“We had a lot of rain,” she shared with YSL News. “The weather calmed down on Sunday afternoon, but it poured all day Friday. We were preparing for the storm while it was raining. The peak intensity was on Saturday.”

If it follows its current path, Gilma is forecasted to begin impacting the state later this week and through the weekend, as it moves just north of the islands.

Big Island still recovering after heavy rains from Hone

The aftermath of Tropical Storm Hone’s heavy rain over the weekend is still felt in some areas of the Big Island, as the storm briefly became a Category 1 hurricane before reverting to a tropical storm.

This storm caused severe flooding on major routes, raised river levels, cut electricity for thousands, and affected air travel. On Monday, at least five public schools had to close due to power loss and hazardous travel conditions, leading authorities to keep several public parks and beaches closed.

By Tuesday morning, most utility customers who experienced power outages over the weekend had their electricity restored. However, around 2,300 residences and businesses were still without power as reported by PowerOutage.us. At the height of the storm, outages impacted more than 24,000 residents.

“The county is beginning its recovery phase,” stated Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth during a Facebook video on Monday. “However, we still face several challenges, including some closed roads.”

Current location of Hurricane Gilma

Hurricane Gilma, classified as a Category 2 storm, was positioned over 1,000 miles east of Hilo on the Big Island as of late Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm lost some intensity on Monday and is anticipated to continue weakening while moving through the central Pacific due to higher wind shear and drier air, as mentioned by the hurricane center.

As of Tuesday, the storm has sustained winds of 105 mph, with higher gusts reported, while its tropical-storm-force winds extend 80 miles from its center.

Hurricane basins and naming conventions explained

Tropical storms and hurricanes develop in areas known as “basins.” Most people in the U.S. are familiar with the Atlantic basin, where storms arise in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. The vast majority of storms affecting the U.S. originate in the Atlantic basin.

The Pacific has two basins with storms that can impact the U.S., on its eastern and central sides. Generally, storms from these basins rarely hit land and tend to drift out to sea, but they can occasionally reach the west coast of Mexico, the Southwestern U.S., and Hawaii.

To identify storms, the Atlantic and eastern Pacific basins use a six-year rotating list of names maintained by the World Meteorological Organization, according to NOAA. The Central Pacific basin has its own set of Hawaiian names.

When storms move from the eastern to the central Pacific basins, they retain their original names; Hurricane Gilma will experience this transition later in the week. If a storm originates in the Central Pacific basin, it receives a Hawaiian name, like Hurricane Hone.