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Coast Guard urges preparedness, Hawaii County port remains closed for Tropical Storm Madeline

September 1, 2016

HONOLULU — The Hawaii County ports remain closed to all vessel traffic while all other ports throughout the main Hawaii Islands currently remain open, Wednesday.

Once the storm has passed and the threat of severe weather has subsided, the Coast Guard, Army Corp of Engineers and State of Hawaii will jointly coordinate surveys of channel blockage and prioritize steps to resume essential, then normal, vessel traffic.

These steps are to minimize risk of damage to vessels and assess the conditions of channels, aids to navigation, waterfront facilities, piers and other infrastructure.

The COTP, in conjunction with the state DOT-Harbors in Hawaii, will begin sending Port Assessment Teams to accessible areas of the Hawaii County ports as soon as it is safe to do so.

The Coast Guard will continue to broadcast Notice to Mariners and post Marine Safety Information Bulletins on homeport.uscg.mil/Honolulu to notify the reopening of ports and any special conditions.

The Coast Guard reminds the public that once Tropical Storm Madeline has passed, sea conditions will still be dangerous and the Coast Guard urges boaters to exercise extreme caution with the arrival of Hurricane Lester over the weekend.

Mariners should secure their boats and boating equipment. Owners of large boats are urged to move their vessels to protected marinas where they will be less likely to break free of their moorings or to be otherwise damaged. Smaller boats should be pulled from the water and stored in a place that is not prone to flooding and is protected for high winds. Regardless of location, all loose items aboard vessels should be secured or removed.

Visitors to Hawaii should heed all warnings from lifeguards and public health and safety officials. Although weather conditions may appear favorable, rip tides and high surf may impact beaches far in advance of the actual storm. Even the best swimmers can fall victim to strong storm-generated waves and currents. Swimmers are urged to stay clear of beaches until local officials say the water is safe. Near-shore waters may become contaminated due to runoff up to several days following a storm.

A PDF version of the Hawai'i Boater's Hurricane and Tsunami Safety Manual can be found at the following link: http://seagrant.noaa.gov/SeaGrantSearch/TabId/526/ArtMID/3568/ArticleID/....

For more information on hurricane preparedness, visit the National Hurricane Center's Web page at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/.

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