#HurricaneLane bears down on Hawaii

Hurricane Lane is the greatest weather threat to Hawaii in decades, say storm experts.

"Hawaii is going to be impacted by Hurricane Lane. The question is, how bad?" FEMA administrator Brock Long told reporters Thursday.

Hawaii governor David Inge is urging residents of all islands to set aside two weeks' worth of food and water and to shelter in place where there are insufficient shelters. At the time of this blog post, Hilo, on the big island of Hawaii, has already registered 18 inches of rainfall.

VIDEO, below: View the eye of Hurricane Lane at its peak intensity, Category 5. The video was captured by a NOAA Hurricane Research Division flight that passed through its center.

VIDEO, below: The International Space Station passed over Hurricane Lane churning in the Pacific. ISS grabbed these images 254 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands at 12:47pm ET today.

CNN via KHON:

Hurricane Lane's outer bands have been pummeling parts of Hawaii's Big Island with rain Thursday morning, triggering landslides and threatening serious flooding as the Category 4cyclone moves perilously close to the Aloha State.

The center of the storm — which could become the first major cyclone to make landfall in the state in 26 years — is expected to move very close to the main islands or cross land Thursday through Friday, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said.

The storm's center, with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph, was in the Pacific about 205 miles southwest of the Big Island town of Kailua-Kona around 8 a.m. HT Thursday (2 p.m. ET).