Hurricane Lala hits Hawaii with rain

HONOLULU, Hawaii — The eye of Hurricane Lala brushed past the southern part of Hawaii's Big Island on Saturday, as heavy rain and strong winds struck the US Pacific state and officials warned of potentially dangerous flooding.

"Hurricane conditions will persist on the Big Island of Hawaii overnight, with the strongest winds expected in areas of higher terrain," the National Hurricane Center said at 8 pm local time, warning that the coast would be hit with "large and dangerous waves".

Lala strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane earlier in the day, generating winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour.

The hurricane approached Hawaii County, which covers the Big Island, and a tropical storm warning was in place for the state's seven other major islands.

Lala came within 50 kilometers southwest of South Point on Big Island in the afternoon but did not make landfall. The hurricane was moving toward the northwest and the general motion was expected to continue overnight, NHC officials said.

Power outages were reported for more than 20,000 customers in Hawaii Saturday afternoon, with weather officials confirming "damaging winds and heavy rain" were spreading across the Big Island famed for surfing and tourism.

Swells generated by Lala would build through the weekend and are likely to cause "life-threatening surf and rip current conditions".

"It's a serious storm," Governor Josh Green said, proclaiming a state of emergency to ensure Hawaii and its counties "have sufficient resources to clear debris, secure infrastructure, and take other measures to prepare".

Hawaii was menaced by Hurricane Fausto last month, before the storm weakened and skirted north of the island chain.

The storm comes as a powerful El Nino has formed in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Elsewhere in Europe, firefighters were battling a massive wildfire in eastern Belgium on Sunday.

The fire has burned more than 27 square kilometers in the High Fens, a large nature reserve, and forced nearby residents to evacuate in what media reports describe as one of the worst-ever wildfires in the country's recent history.

About 600 residents in nearby municipalities in Waimes and Bütgenbach, in Liege Province near the German border, were told to evacuate on Saturday as winds shifted and smoke spread through the area. Authorities advised tourists to leave.

Also, a flood and a landslide triggered by torrential rain killed two elderly women and injured two babies in rural northwestern Spain on Saturday, authorities said.

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA