Hold on to that umbrella: Two more days of rain
| • | Kailua sinkhole reappears |
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i residents will have to slosh through at least two more days of wet weather, but the rain isn't expected to be as heavy as yesterday's downpours and skies should begin clearing by Friday.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
The forecast for O'ahu calls for scattered showers today and tomorrow with winds out of the southeast at 10 to 20 mph. National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Farrell said the trade winds should return by Friday and blow away most of the rain showers.
Usually a sun-dappled drive, Kahala Avenue was a series of puddles yesterday as rain continued. There were no reports of major damage, but areas of O'ahu suffered power failures and disruption of telephone service.
"Things are gradually dying down, but there still is a pretty good moisture flow over the state," Farrell said.
The rain and gusty southerly wind kept fire department and Hawaiian Electric crews busy yesterday. The roofs of two Waimanalo homes were blown off early yesterday, and there were many calls about downed trees and lines.
About 9,000 HECO customers from Kane'ohe to Kahalu'u were without power from 7:50 to 8:25 last night. The failure, which included Windward Mall, was caused by the wet and windy weather, said spokesman Fred Kobashikawa.
Earlier in the evening, a power failure affected 6,200 Kailua residents and businesses. Electricity was knocked out at 5:26 p.m. and restored about a half-hour later.
Water damage to a telephone cable caused a cutoff in service to more than 1,800 East Honolulu customers at about 6:30 yesterday morning. Verizon Hawai'i spokeswoman Ann Nishida said service isn't expected to be restored until this morning.
Most of O'ahu received a good soaking yesterday, including Leeward areas that had at least 2 inches of rain.
"They needed it," Farrell said. "It's really nice. Everything should turn green."
