Olivia is now a tropical depression, more rain for Hawaii

HONOLULU (AP) — Heavy rain and winds from a tropical storm downed trees, knocked out power and prompted evacuations of several homes on Hawaii's Maui island but spared the state widespread damage before it headed to sea and away from the state.

Tropical Storm Olivia was downgraded today to a tropical depression after it crossed the state Wednesday, making landfall on Maui and Lanai islands.

Weather forecasters warned heavy downpours would continue today, producing produce additional rainfall of 3 to 5 inches and isolated amounts of 6 to 8 inches on higher terrain.

That could cause could cause life-threatening flash floods because the ground is already saturated with water, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said in a statement.

But Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa said he was hopeful the effects of the storm would be limited.

"It's been an ordeal but we're coming through this fairly well," Arakawa said at a news conference. "I'm not seeing any really large areas of damage, no homes destroyed or flooded to any kind of extreme measures as we did in previous storms."