(ABOVE) Video recorded during the Wednesday Hawaii County Council meeting in Hilo.

Video by David Corrigan

HILO, Hawaii – The Hawaii County Council heard a first hand update on the approaching Hurricane Iselle during its meeting in Hilo on Wednesday.

The informational briefing from Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira was not on the agenda, but the emergency circumstances allowed the elected officials to suspend normal rules in order to hear from the head of the county’s emergency response.

The council was startled by the news that Iselle had maintained strength, and that a Hurricane Warning was being issued for Hawaii Island.

Oliveira and County Clerk Stewart Maeda tried to answer questions about how the two approaching storms – Hurricane Iselle on Thursday and Julio Saturday night / Sunday morning – will impact Saturday’s primary election.

Following the presentation, optimism that the storm would pass Hawaii Island dwindled. It appears that the only thing between Iselle and the rest of the state at this point is the Big Island. “There is also the possibility of some disruption of the cyclone,” wrote the National Weather Service at 5 p.m. HST, “from the island terrain if the cyclone moves over the mountainous terrain of the Big Island.”