Hurricane Lane Strengthens To Category 5 As It Heads For Hawaii

Hurricane Lane strengthened to a Category 5 storm on Tuesday as it charged toward Hawaii where residents braced for “life threatening” winds and flooding, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Forecasters said it was still uncertain whether the eye of the powerful hurricane would hit land in the U.S. island chain, whose Big Island is reeling from a three-month eruption of Kilauea volcano. But “preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the center said. The center of the storm is expected to track “dangerously” close to or over the islands Thursday through Saturday, the NHC said. A direct hit anywhere in Hawaii “would be a worst case scenario,” said Thomas Birchard, a meteorologist with the hurricane center.