St. Cloud State Volleyball Team Caught In Hurricane Lane
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Hurricane Lane is churning its way towards Hawaii. The category two storm is already having an impact on the islands.
Hawaiian officials say more than 30 inches of rain has fallen across the Big Island. That has triggered flash flooding and landslides. Major roads have closed and strong winds are creating dangerous surf.
Right now, St. Cloud State's volleyball team is there for a tournament.
"Started watching the weather tracking north a little bit. We came over the Hilo to try to avoid any of the winds that were coming this way," Coach Chad Braegelmann said.
Braegelmann said the team spent a few sunny days in the state before having to move to safety on another part of Big Island. They switched hotels and stocked up on supplies.
"We've just been hanging out in the hotel the last 36 hours trying to stay dry it's been a lot of rain. It kind of feels like a really bad thunderstorm in Minnesota without the thunder and lightning. But it's just the volume of rain, we haven't seen the bad winds," Braegelmann said.
Braegelmann said the team has taken the weather in stride, trying to make the most of their time while they wait out the storm. The Huskies fundraised for nearly two years to play in the tournament, hosted by University of Hawaii-Hilo. The state shut down schools, so their first match Thursday was cancelled. They still hope to play Friday night.
"We reminded our team, hey there's lots of things in life you can't control so we're not going to worry about it a whole lot," Braegelmann said.
The team hopes to get in all of their matches before leaving Saturday afternoon. They'll continue to watch the weather and flights to make sure they can still get out.