Couple from Jesup rides out Hurricane Lane for wedding in Hawaii

Couple from Jesup rides out Hurricane Lane for wedding in Hawaii
Updated: Aug. 28, 2018 at 10:03 PM EDT
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JESUP, GA (WTOC) - A dream wedding in Hawaii could have been much worse for a local couple who flew to the Aloha State as a Category 5 hurricane was churning in the Central Pacific.

We checked in with William Miller, a firefighter from Jesup, and his bride-to-be, Joy Beasley Rovolis, as they enjoyed Honolulu sights but worried that their flight to Maui would be canceled as Hurricane Lane had already dumped two feet of rain on the Big Island and was heading to Maui.

The very next day, the winds had picked up on Oahu and Maui but no flights had been canceled. William joked it was because he bought a lucky shirt.

They laughed nervously.

There were no deaths in the storm, but Hurricane Lane ended up being second in rainfall only to Hurricane Harvey. Lane dropped 52.02 inches of rain on Mountain View, Hawaii, over four days, making it the second-highest storm rainfall total in U.S. history, the National Weather Service said. Only 2017's Hurricane Harvey dumped more rain, with 60.58 recorded in Netherland, Texas.

While the Big Island took the brunt of the storm, the worst of fears never materialized as Lane quickly fell apart. As the major storm began moving north toward Hawaii around a high-pressure ridge. That's when its winds died down and it lost speed.

It was downgraded to a tropical storm on Friday, and all warnings for Hawaii were canceled Saturday morning after the storm turned west and moved away from the state.

William and Joy enjoyed their Maui wedding on Monday. William did say it sprinkled a little before the ceremony, just to remind them that Mother Nature is still in charge. Congrats to the newlyweds!

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