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With time running out before Major Hurricane Lane's impacts begin in Hawaii, officials urged residents to complete preparations with time to spare ahead of the storm's arrival.

Hawaii Gov. David Ige issued an emergency proclamation on Tuesday to speed up the state's response to Lane's impacts. The Hawaii National Guard has been alerted and the Red Cross opened shelters across the state of 1.4 million.

"Hurricane Lane is not a well-behaved hurricane," Ige said in the statement. "I've not seen such dramatic changes in the forecast track as I've seen with this storm. I urge our residents and visitors to take this threat seriously and prepare for a significant impact."

(MORE: Check the Latest Forecast for Hurricane Lane )

"Regardless of the exact track of the storm center, life-threatening impacts are likely over some areas as this strong hurricane makes its closest approach," warned the National Weather Service office in Honolulu.

Complicating storm preparations is the fact that Hawaii residents are stuck on the islands and have to prepare for any type of emergency instead of simply driving to safety as one could on the U.S. mainland.

The state's visitor industry estimates some 270,000 tourists will be on the islands during the storm , according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Officials are hopeful that the state is ready to care for these visitors – even those who are traveling from areas that don't usually see hurricanes.

"The industry takes pride in the fact that they are prepared," Hawaii Tourism Authority President and CEO George Szigeti told the Star-Advertiser. "It’s a high priority, and it’s something that they practice for over and over."

'Now Is the Time to Get Ready'

Schools and offices will be closed until further notice in Maui County and on the Big Island starting Wednesday. Non-essential local government employees have also been told to stay home, reports the Associated Press. All high school football games scheduled for the upcoming weekend have been canceled , KHON-TV reported.

Shelters were being readied on Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Lanai, according to AP. Maui County's shelters opened Wednesday afternoon; Maui Now has a list .

"Now is the time to get ready," Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa said in a statement.

Officials have not told travelers to cancel upcoming vacations to Hawaii, but Hawaii Airlines and American Airlines waived reservation change fees for those with scheduled trips to and from Hawaii during the storm , according to CNN.com.

A soccer tournament hosted by the University of Hawaii will also be canceled because the participating teams canceled their trips ahead of the storm , according to the Star-Advertiser. Several University of Hawaii campuses, including the main campus on Oahu, will be closed until further notice.

Crews began to clear waterways of any objects that could raise the flood risk as the storm inched toward the Hawaiian Islands Tuesday , Hawaii News Now reported. While the exact track is still uncertain, officials told residents to prepare for the worst – a rare hurricane strike on Hawaii.

"Prepare for the worst and hope for the best," said the National Weather Service in a Wednesday morning forecast discussion.

In Honolulu, a city that hasn't sustained a direct hurricane hit since well before Hawaii became the nation's 50th state in 1959, locals swarmed supermarkets by the hundreds to stock up on emergency supplies , according to the Honolulu Civil Beat. Stores quickly ran out of water and food, and one local radio station asked Honolulu residents to call in and share locations that still had supplies Tuesday evening, the report added.

(MORE: How Unusual Is a Hawaii Hurricane Strike? )

Officials have not ordered evacuations, but they might become necessary for residents who live near the coast , the Star-Advertiser reported. Those who have vacations planned to Hawaii have been advised to track the storm's progress but not cancel trips, the report added.

"As Hurricane Lane continues to track toward Hawaii, the current forecast by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center calls for the possibility of high surf and rip currents, thunderstorms and even tropical-storm-force winds if the storm skirts Oahu's Leeward Coast," said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell in a statement. "It's important for residents and visitors to stay alert and stay informed."

(MORE: 11 Things to Get During Your Emergency Supply Run )

On the Big Island, the Emergency Operations Center was activated Monday to help with storm preparations, Hawaii News Now also said. Officials closed the Whittington, Punaluu and Milolii beach parks to prepare for possible storm surge and dangerous conditions, the report added.

At Pearl Harbor, boat tours to the USS Arizona Memorial were suspended and ships are expected to be moved from the harbor before the hurricane arrives, the Star-Advertiser said.

Above all else, leaders had one message for residents: don't wait to prepare for the storm, because time will quickly run out.

"Anyone who is waiting until the storm hits to prepare will find themselves running around at the last minute and standing in line at the gas stations and grocery stores," said Arakawa in a statement. "So prepare now and avoid being on the road when you should be safe at home."

Homeless Camps Warned About the Storm

With some 6,500 homeless living in Hawaii, authorities spread out to visit encampments and work to get as many people into shelters as possible ahead of Lane's arrival, the Civil Beat reported.

(MORE: 4 Things to Know About Hurricane Lane )

When shelter locations are announced, they'll return to those camps to provide more information to the homeless, the report added.

"A lot of the people we’ve talked to so far say they’re going to play it by ear," state homeless coordinator Scott Morishige told the Civil Beat on Tuesday. "Not all of them are 100 percent sure that a storm is going to come."

No Added Threat at Kilauea Fissure Sites

After several months of lava flows destroyed hundreds of homes at fissures near the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island, many residents in the Lower Puna area remain homeless. But experts say there's little risk that the effects of the hurricane will make things worse at the volcano.

"Effects of hurricane-related torrential rainfall on the lower East Rift Zone lava flow will be minimal," Janet Babb, a geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, told weather.com. "Where the interior of the flow is still hot, heavy rain will likely result in the formation of steam."

At worst, Babb added, the steam could be so thick that visibility is dramatically reduced, but don't expect a catastrophic interaction between the lava fields, which have since dried up near the fissures, and the storm's wind and rain.