Posted on: Sunday, January 5, 2003
O'ahu hit with gusts up to 60 mph
| • | Large surf to hit Hawai'i |
By Will Hoover and Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writers
High winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour downed tree branches and power lines yesterday, causing brief electrical failures and some damage to property, authorities reported.
According to HFD Capt. Kenison Tejada, most of the trouble early in the day was minor, although there were several incidents in which shingles and portions of garage and home roofs were blown off.
Tejada said firefighters were called in to deal with tree limbs that were touching a power line on Pohuehue Street in Ka'a'awa. He said such incidents can be dangerous because people who touch an electrified tree can be injured severely.
Later last night, firefighters were busy keeping brush and rubbish fires from spreading. Kalaniana'ole Highway was closed in both directions last night from Sea Life Park to Kealahou Street while firefighters stretched hoses across the highway from near the Hawai'i Kai Golf Course to battle a brush fire at the Allen Davis estate. More than 25 acres of grass and small trees were involved, Tejada said.
Lynne Unemori, a spokeswoman for the electrical company, said poles were downed by winds in Koko Marina, Waimanalo and near the Dole Pavilion on the North Shore.
The windy weather caused a number of power failures yesterday, unrelated to the downed poles, she said. Customers were affected in Helemano, Waimanalo, Kahalu'u and near the Pali Golf Course, she said. A failure in Hawai'i Kai was caused by an underground short.
O'ahu Civil Defense authorities were monitoring surf heights on the North Shore last night in case the surf presented a threat to residents. John Cummings, a Civil Defense spokesman, said about 10 p.m. that surf was high but not unusually so for North Shore winters.
Roy Matsuda with the National Weather Service said south winds should diminish today, to 15 to 25 miles per hour. Trade winds should return by tomorrow, he said.
