(Image source from: LatestLY)

The United States President Donald Trump has announced a state of emergency in Hawaii given the impending reaching of Hurricane Lane, which is threatening to evolve into the most powerful storm in decades in the archipelago.

The declaration on Thursday authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate their rescue and relief efforts in natural disasters and to funnel federal funds to the areas affected, Efe news reported.

The purpose of the measure is to save lives and safeguard private property and public health in minimizing or avoiding the threat of a catastrophe on the island, the White House said in a statement.

According to weather experts cited by CNN, the eye of the hurricane could develop into such a powerful storm that, if it makes landfall, it would be the most annihilative in the past 26 years.

Recent reports released by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said that the storm is still heading for Hawaii and packing winds of 210 km per hour, and it may pass directly over most of the islands in the archipelago.

Despite the earnestness of the threat to the state, the National Weather Service proclaimed on the social networks that the storm, which on Tuesday became a Category 5 hurricane, the maximum level on the Saffir-Simpson scale, has weakened slightly. To cut down potential risks, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday that it was ordering Navy ships to set sail, rather than remain in port, although it ordered them to remain near Hawaii in case they are required to participate in future aid activities.

By Sowmya Sangam