A state of emergency has been issued in Hawaii as Hurricane Lane hits the islands. There is already catastrophic flooding on the Big Island from the rains.
A Milwaukee native is in Maui preparing for a long night.
Alana Kay is not expecting a direct hit to her island. But the winds were already picking up Friday afternoon on the beach as she spoke to TODAY'S TMJ4 over Facetime.
"We don't usually get winds like this during the day," said Kay.
Kay is a Wauwatosa East graduate. She moved to Hawaii in the 90s. Though this will be her first hurricane on the island she said her Midwest roots have her prepared.
"I'm used to big thunderstorms and wild weather in Milwaukee so it's pretty much like that," said Kay.
She already hit the grocery store to stock up for a long haul.
"A lot of store shelves are cleared but they've been pretty good about restocking them," said Kay.
Hurricane Lane started as a category 5 storm and has weakened as it inches closer to the islands. The storm is slowly moving, dropping upwards of 40 inches of rain in some spots. Homes, roads and cars are already underwater. All of that rain, now heading for Kay's home.
"All we can do is ride it out," said Kay.
