Hawaii hit by strong rain, surf as tropical storm brushes by

Though the storm was not predicted to make landfall on any Hawaiian island, the Big Island and Maui County remained under tropical storm warnings because of threats from wind and rain.

The rainfall may lead to dangerous flash floods and mudslides, the weather service warned.

Earlier on Wednesday, merchants boarded up shop windows along Hilo Bay and shoppers snatched supplies of food and water from grocery store shelves after initially being told the island could be hit by its first hurricane in a quarter-century.

Elsewhere, a tropical storm warning was issued early Thursday for a section of the U.S. East Coast as Tropical Storm Hermine approached Florida from the Gulf of Mexico.

In Hawaii, Peggy Beckett, a retiree and beekeeper, stopped at a Hilo supermarket to pick up onion bagels, cheese, cold cuts and salad to add to her canned food at home.

The Hawaiian islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe were under a tropical storm watch, but there were no alerts for Oahu or Kauai.