Governor Henry McMaster announced Friday that South Carolina State Fire's Palmetto Incident Support Team have deployed to Hawaii to assist with emergency preparedness efforts ahead of Hurricane Lala.
The IST was activated through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact at the request of Honolulu city and county officials. While deployed, the team will augment the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management's Emergency Operations Center.
The system could bring rainfall totals of 8 inches to a foot (up to about 30 centimeters) across Maui and the Big Island, with as much as 25 inches (nearly 64 centimeters) possible across the Big Island, forecasters said. That could produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, the center said.
The IST previously deployed to Hawaii in April to assist with response and recovery efforts following devastating flash flooding on O'ahu's North Shore.