Channel 9 anchor Jamie Holmes and his family was vacationing in Kauai, Hawaii when Hurricane Lane began moving closer to the island.
Honolulu is more than 100 miles away from the island of Kauai.
Jamie is among the many tourists taking shelter in a hotel.
“You're seeing a lot of panic, but for good reason. At one point, it was a Category 5 (hurricane). It's dropped down to a (Category) 4, still a lethal storm,” Holmes said.
HAWAII — Watch: Hurricane Lane satellite images
The National Weather Service downgraded the storm to a Category 3 Thursday evening.
Jamie said preparations were in full swing Thursday: roads were blocked off and stores were emptied.
“Everyone is worried about it. The Home Depot here have been cleaned out. All the lines to get gas. We are familiar with that in Florida,” Holmes said. “A half-mile-long line to get in and fuel up.”
The storm is getting closer to entire island chain and will continue moving through Saturday.
“You could look out to the Pacific and see how it's kind of gray,” Holmes said. “It's rainy here. It was not like that yesterday. It was gorgeous. It was really bright and sunny.
Holmes said despite the situation, he still plans to make the most of it.
“It's a bummer because I have the kids here and we were looking forward to showing them Hawaii,” he said. “But we got lucky. We are as far away from the storm now as we can be and still be in Hawaii."
Flash Flood Warning continues for Hilo HI, Volcano HI, Honoka'a HI until 3:45 AM HST pic.twitter.com/vGX2Xo4652
— NWSHonolulu (@NWSHonolulu) August 24, 2018
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