With four hurricanes headed toward the state as TV showed endless scenes of hurricane devastation on the Gulf Coast, it isn't surprising that Hawai'i residents hit the grocery stores hard last weekend.

Water sold out in some places, and stores reported exceptionally high sales of canned goods and other staples.

Things started to ease up yesterday after the National Weather Service confirmed that Hurricane Jova, the nearest of the approaching storms, was on a course that would take it to the east of the Islands, and that the other storms had been downgraded to tropical storms.

"The panic is not nearly what it was three days ago," said Costco Iwilei's warehouse manager, Robert Loomis.

Customers emptied Costco Iwilei of every case of bottled water on Saturday, but Loomis said the supply was immediately replenished.

"Our distribution network is pretty good," he said.

By Tuesday night the Safeway store on Beretania had sold out of bottled water.

"Our shipment comes in tomorrow," Jennifer Webber, a Safeway spokeswoman, said yesterday. "We'll be good on water at that point."

Sam's Club on Ke'eaumoku was out of water for a while on Tuesday but was replenished yesterday.

At Foodland, spokeswoman Sheryl Toda said canned goods and water sales were high in days the hurricane approached, but sales tapered off yesterday.

"There was apparently a lot of local concern," said Jeff Powell, forecaster for the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu.

Powell said Hurricane Jova continues on a path that keeps the Islands out of harm's way, and is expected to slow to a tropical storm by Saturday.

Former Hurricane Kenneth remains a distant tropical storm, and Tropical Storm Max is rapidly degrading.

Reach Karen Blakeman at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.