Advertiser Staff
The heavy winds of this week are expected to begin tapering off today, but not before they shorted electrical lines on all islands, knocked down trees and utility poles, and damaged roofs.
The National Weather Service kept up wind advisories on all islands and gale warnings in the channels through the night, but anticipated a slow weakening of the high-pressure system to the north that is causing the blustery weather.
"It’s going to be a gradual decrease over the next 24 to 48 hours, but it should be nice by the weekend," said forecaster Tim Craig.
Winds were still gusting in the 40-mph range in parts of most islands, and there were a few reports of gusts reaching 50 mph.
On O‘ahu yesterday, Hawaiian Electric Co. crews dealt with power failures in Hawai‘i Kai, downtown Honolulu, Kahuku and Salt Lake.
"In the past two days, the problem we’ve had has been because of wind and moisture or the combination of the two," said HECO spokesman Fred Kobashikawa.
Gusty winds also played havoc with electrical lines on O‘ahu, cutting off power to thousands of people.
"The power failures are being caused by the gusting, shifting winds combined with moisture," Kobashikawa said.
An 20-minute blackout in the Portlock area started at 10:50 a.m. and affected customers at the Koko Marina Center and sections of Kalaniana‘ole Highway and Lunalilo Home Road, Kobashi-kawa said. The power failure also knocked out traffic signals.
At about 11:45 a.m., an underground cable failure cut power for about 45 minutes to the Prince K¬hi¯ Federal Building and surrounding buildings, Kobashikawa said. Power was restored at 12:25 p.m.
In Kahuku, a 40-minute blackout affected the La‘ie shopping center and several surrounding areas from 1:35 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., Kobashikawa said.
In Salt Lake, a 31-minute power failure that started at 2:20 p.m. affected the Crosspointe subdivision, Aloha Stadium, a section of Salt Lake Boulevard and surrounding areas, he said.
Police yesterday reported no serious accidents from falling trees. The Honolulu Zoo, closed Wednesday because of falling tree branches, was reopened yesterday.
Also, repair crews were restoring power to about 20 to 25 homes whose power lines were jarred loose from high winds or falling branches, Kobashikawa said.
The most spectacular damage came on Maui, where the winds, compressed between Moloka‘i and the West Maui Mountains, were particularly strong.
Late Wednesday night, 10 utility poles near the Ka‘anapali resort were knocked down, leaving 500 West Maui customers without power for 24 minutes starting at 11:21 p.m. "The wind was of such force that it sheared the poles at the ground level," said Herb Glassen, operations superintendent with Maui Electric Co. "The anchor rods were pulled right out of the ground."
Glassen said electricity was restored using alternate lines. Crews were expected to continue repairing the downed poles through Sunday.
Five poles in the same area were toppled earlier in the morning.
There were additional power failures Wednesday night in Olinda and Kula , and in Lahaina yesterday morning.
On the Big Island, branches hit power lines in South Kohala, shutting off power temporarily Wednesday night in Kawaihae and in resort areas to the south and briefly in surrounding areas. In Waikoloa, gusts ripped shingles from several houses and felled trees.
The Weather Service said considerable rain fell in upland parts of the Hilo side of the island, with Glenwood reporting 5.31 inches in 24 hours and Mountain View 4.18 inches.
Despite the conditions, Big Island Civil Defense chief Bill Davis reported no major damage.
A Kauai Electric Co. official said continued gusty weather caused concern but no major electrical failures.
Advertiser staff writers Jan TenBruggencate, Christie Wilson, Timothy Hurley, Brandon Masuoka and Rod Ohira contributed to this report.
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