Hawaii faces life-threatening flooding after some areas of the state see more than a foot of rain in 48 hours - CNN

The western Hawaiian Islands are under a flood watch through Tuesday afternoon and a flash flood warning was in effect Monday night for Oahu, the most populated of the islands and home to the capital of Honolulu.

Much of Oahu was getting hit by up to 2 inches of rain an hour Monday and another area of heavy rain is set to move through in the coming hours, which could see rainfall reaching 3 inches an hour.

David Ige declared a state of emergency Monday due to the heavy rains, which he said were "anticipated to continue to cause flooding damage to public and private property."

The declaration allows the use of funds "to support state and county efforts in providing quick and efficient relief of suffering, damage, and losses caused by flooding and other effects of heavy rains," Ige said on Twitter.

The days-long rain event had already left some communities saturated.