High winds knock out power
| • | Phone problems persist statewide |
By Walter Wright and Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writers
Very strong and gusty trade winds that tore roofs off homes and cut electric power to thousands of O'ahu residents yesterday are expected to continue today and abate somewhat tomorrow, the National Weather Service said.
A high wind advisory for sustained winds of 30 to 40 miles per hour, with higher gusts, was posted at 10 a.m. and renewed at 4 p.m.
The gusts brought down a power line that was part of a 138,000-volt transmission system about two miles mauka of Newtown at 10:30 a.m. yesterday, starting a brush fire that was in turn fanned by high winds. Firefighters worked until after 5 p.m. when darkness forced them to leave the fire burning in the remote area.
Hawaiian Electric Company reported a series of failures at various locations around O'ahu.
About 20 homes in the Tantalus area were thought to have lost power at 8 a.m. when a tree fell onto a power line there, HECO spokesman Fred Kobashikawa said. Workers restored the line several hours later, but then discovered customers had been fed by an alternate circuit.
At 12:13 p.m., about 1,500 homes and businesses in the Waialua area lost power, also because of a tree on a power line. Power was restored to those homes by 5 p.m. yesterday, Kobashikawa said.
About 230 customers in the Diamond Head and Kapahulu areas near Waikiki lost power at 2:12 p.m. when a line went down apparently due to a mechanical failure, but their service was restored an hour later by switching to an alternate circuit.
Another 730 customers, these in the Pacific Palisades area, lost power at 2:16 p.m. because of a downed tree. Within 15 minutes, about 1,500 customers in the Waipahu area lost power. Those families had power restored to their homes by 4:30 p.m.
Fire Department dispatchers said there were reports of roofs blown off structures in Wahiawa and Pearl City.
