“Good morning gentlemen. How are we doing today? Enjoying the beautiful weather?”

That was the greeting from Big City Diner waitress Stephanie Burge in Kaimuki Saturday.

The weather wasn’t all that great — overcast with rain drizzles. But compared with a tropical storm or hurricane that had been forecast for Oahu a day earlier, the gray weather was beautiful indeed.

For about a million people on Hawaii’s most populated island, life reverted closer to normal Saturday after what had been called a menacing monster storm, Hurricane Lane then Tropical Storm Lane, dissipated — but not before bringing damaging flooding to parts of Hawaii island.

Across Oahu, restaurants, shopping malls, gas stations and other places of commerce and activity reopened.

“It’s back to normal,” said Craig Shoji, a Waialae Nui Ridge resident who took his son Wyatt to swimming lessons and then stopped to eat lunch at the Kahala Zippy’s before heading off to meet with a teacher.

The kamaaina Zippy’s chain, like most businesses on the island, closed Thursday and stayed buttoned up Friday when Lane had a high chance of bringing severely damaging winds and rain to Oahu. On Saturday, Shoji was eating chicken katsu in the restaurant while his son had saimin.

Not everything reopened quite so fast. City parks remained closed, and some businesses took a more cautious approach and stayed closed Saturday.

Although the island was still under threat of flash floods in the early morning Saturday, no heavy rain appeared.

International Market Place in Waikiki announced it would reopen at 10 a.m. Ala Moana Center, the largest shopping mall on the island, reopened at noon. TheBus resumed regular service at 2 p.m.

At McKinley High School on Saturday morning, the first of several city buses labeled with a special route designation “EVACUATION” picked up passengers who had spent the last night or two in the school gym that was one of about 35 emergency shelters activated statewide.

Between 150 and 180 people sought safety in the McKinley shelter, according to school officials, and the first free bus leaving the shelter arrived shortly before 10 a.m. to a crowd of around 100 people waiting outside.

Mark Cain was among those who sought safety at the school because his temporary home, Next Step Shelter in Kakaako, had closed Thursday.

Cain, who is saving up for an apartment, said he was hit by a car that broke his ankle Aug. 3 and was glad the school shelter had been opened.

“I think the state was just trying to prepare everyone,” he said. “They did a good job.”

Off the southern shore of Oahu at around 9 a.m., the Pasha Hawaii Transport Lines cargo ship Horizon Pacific made its way back into Honolulu Harbor after being able to unload only about half its shipping containers on Wednesday before the U.S. Coast Guard closed the harbor that is a lifeline of goods for the state.

Right behind the Pasha ship was the Matson Inc. vessel Mahimahi that also had been partially unloaded before the harbor closure. Both ships found a calm spot at sea during the last two days to avoid Lane while it passed.

At the Big City Diner, manager Dwight Wong said the crowd of about 60 people was about average for a Saturday morning. The restaurant had closed at 8 p.m. on Thursday and reopened at 7 a.m. Saturday, about an hour later than normal.

Kaimuki resident Griff Griffith said he was sure the restaurant where he eats just about every Saturday would be open.

“Everything is kind of getting back to normal,” he said.