Hurricane Lane soaks Hawaii: PHOTOS

Hurricane Lane roared toward Hawaii early this past week as a Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. That meant it was likely to cause catastrophic damage with winds 157 mph or above.

But upper-level winds known as shear swiftly tore the storm apart. By late Friday, the National Weather Service said Lane had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph as it slowly twisted west about 120 miles south of Honolulu.

The outer bands of the hurricane dumped as much as 3 feet of rain in 48 hours on the mostly rural Big Island. The main town of Hilo, population 43,000, was flooded Friday with waist-high water as landslides shut down roads.

SEE ALSO: Lane vs. Kilauea: What happens when a hurricane meets a volcano?

Some scientists think low pressure associated with a hurricane could contribute to a volcanic eruption, but that theory hasn't yet been definitively proven.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.