Good Morning Flossie...

I woke up this morning to my phone ringing. Aka was concerned I might be drowning. Awwww! She was getting ready to board her plane but heard a Flossie update & worried. I love you smoopy. So here's what I know for those of you interested... Flossie is now a category 2 but surf is building. Bleh, not so much here, but the Big Island is expecting 20-25 foot waves. I'm on O'ahu and we're not getting much action. The National Weather Service said while a tropical storm warning and hurricane watch remained in effect for Hawaii's big island, Hurricane Flossie appeared to be slowing down on Monday evening.

Forecast to pass just south of the island on Tuesday, the storm was expected to produce winds of about 64 kilometers an hour, heavy rain of up to 25 centimeters and high surf of up to four to six meters on south-facing shores of the big island, meteorologists said.

The storm was moving on Monday night in a westerly direction about 418 kilometers south of Hilo on the southern end of Hawaii's big island.

"Flossie is showing definite signs of weakening," the National Weather Service's Central Pacific Hurricane Centre said late Monday.

"Aircraft reconnaissance and satellite data have shown a clear weakening trend for Hurricane Flossie," it said.

The storm was classified as a category three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale with maximum winds of about 115 miles an hour but the intensity of the storm would likely decline further as it neared Hawaii, forecasters said.

As state authorities urged residents to prepare for the worst, an earthquake hit the big island on Monday. The 5.4 magnitude quake struck at 7.38pm local time (05H38 GMT), about 40 kilometers south of Hilo, the US Geological Survey said.

There were no reports of injuries or major damage, US media reported.

Governor Linda Lingle on Monday issued a proclamation allowing National Guard units to be activated for emergency assistance and releasing two million dollars in state funds for disaster relief.

Public schools and libraries were closed and state and federal parks on the big island were shut down as a precaution, local media reported.