Trump declares emergency as hurricane menaces Hawaii

US President Donald Trump today declared a state of emergency in Hawaii, releasing disaster funds as powerful Hurricane Lane bears down on the archipelago's Big Island.

US weather authorities said Lane had weakened slightly to a Category 4-storm but was still packing maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour, threatening torrential rains, high winds and dangerous surf.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned in its latest advisory that Lane could produce "excessive rainfall" that would deluge the islands into the weekend, "leading to significant and life-threatening flash flooding and landslides."
Forecasters said the slow-moving storm would generate large swells in the coming days that would produce "very large and damaging surf" on shorelines facing west and south, likely triggering "significant coastal erosion."