Hurricane Lala began lashing parts of Hawaii as its outer bands swirled toward the islands on Saturday, downing trees, ripping roofs off some homes and knocking out power for thousands of people.

Read more Lala wreaks havoc despite downgrade to tropical storm

After strengthening from a tropical storm on Saturday morning, it registered sustained winds of up to 75 mph. By late morning local time, it was unclear whether the center of the storm would move onto land.

In a video update Saturday, Gov. Josh Green urged people in the state to shelter in place. Still, some daring surfers on the western coast of the Big Island were chasing waves before the worst of the storm, and many residents were still out in areas where the rain remained light.

Forecasters have issued a hurricane warning for Hawaii County and a tropical storm warning for the rest of the state, including the island of Oahu.

If Lala makes landfall as a hurricane, it would be the first hurricane to hit Hawaii since September 1992, when Hurricane Iniki devastated the island of Kauai, killing seven people. Even if Lala does not make official landfall, forecasters warned the damage could be significant.

Precipitation totals were forecast to reach up to 25 inches in some places. Tropical storm conditions were expected in Maui County by Saturday night, with up to 12 inches of rain, and in Oahu and Kauai counties by Sunday morning, with up to 6 inches of rain.

Read more UPDATE: Weather conditions intensify, thousands without power as Hurricane Lala nears

Here’s what else we’re covering:

— Storm preparations: Residents on the Big Island were stocking up on supplies such as propane and staples like rice and bread, leading up to what may be the strongest storm there in decades.

Several shelters had opened across the island.

— Outages expected: Hawaii’s largest power company warned utility customers on Friday to prepare for outages that could last for days. As of Saturday morning, 16,000 people had lost power on the Big Island, the mayor said. The storm was toppling trees, which could cause significant damage to power lines.

Fallen trees and heavy rain had also triggered some road closures on the Big Island on Saturday.

— Travel disrupted: The two busiest airports on the Big Island began to shut down Saturday morning. Hilo International Airport began the process of closing, and Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport was scheduled to close at 2 p.m. local time, according to the Hawaii Department of Transportation. Many flights at both airports had already been canceled. There were no passengers at the airports, according to the transportation department.

Read more East Hawaii residents prepare for cyclone’s arrival

It expected both airports to reopen Sunday.

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