Hawai'i Kai residents cope without power
| • | State cleans up after wind and rain storm |
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
From spoiled milk to bored and restless kids, East Ho-nolulu residents found out the hard way how "powerless" they really are without electricity after high winds swept through Wednesday and left thousands in the dark.
HPD officer Clyde Bueno manned the intersection at Kalaniana'ole Highway and Hawai'i Kai Drive yesterday during the power outage. Most power was restored by last night.
Except for about 260 customers still without power in pockets across O'ahu, electricity had been restored to all of Hawai'i Kai yesterday evening. But it was a long 26 hours from the time some residents first lost power on Wednesday.
Leta Newman, a Portlock Road resident, had a freezer full of meat that she watched thaw out. Concerned that her food would spoil, Newman had a plan.
"I have 10 pounds of chicken, four pounds of ground turkey, flank steak and tri tips all thawed out," Newman said. "I think I'm going to have to have a barbecue this weekend."
Hawai'i Kai and Kuli'ou'ou bore the brunt of the power outage, with more than 11,000 residents without electricity among about 11,700 island-wide.
The outage began about 6:25 p.m. Wednesday when a power line that crosses the Ko'olau mountains went down because of high winds, said Jose Dizon, Hawaiian Electric spokesman. It was the second power line to be knocked out. The first line went down at 4:16 a.m. Wednesday, also from high winds, but customers were unaffected, HECO said.
HECO used a helicopter to drop off crews and equipment yesterday at first light to repair the second line.
The power outage closed Kaiser High School, Koko Head, Kamiloiki and Haha'ione elementary schools yesterday, forcing parents to find alternate care for their children. All but Kaiser High were expected to be open today for classes. It was a teacher work day at Kaiser, and no classes were scheduled.
But yesterday, parents had to figure out what to do with their kids. Some took them to work and others, like Teri Imanaka, took her kids to the Honolulu Zoo. After the batteries ran out on the hand-held electronic games, Imanaka said, she figured some fresh air was in order.
Other than her son and daughter not being able to go to Koko Head Elementary School, the outage was like an in-house camping trip. Her father had a gas-powered stove that he fired up to make fresh-brewed coffee and hot breakfast yesterday morning.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
"We're pretty prepared," Imanaka said yesterday before the power came back on. "We had lights and candles, and we bought more today in case we don't have power tonight. I haven't opened the fridge yet. We're operating out of a cooler."
Toshi Arai, technical support staff for the Koko Marina 8 Theatres, waited inside the darkened lobby for power to be restored. Many movies stopped midway when the theater lost power Wednesday.
Heidi Anderson wasn't so prepared. The mother of three — ages 4, 3 and 1 — had a chicken cooking in the oven when the power went out Wednesday. The Andersons ate peanut butter and crackers, and canned corn, and enjoyed a night of no television, no distractions.
"It was kind of nice to hang out with the family," Anderson said. "We went outside and looked at the stars."
The power outage did make Anderson realize how woefully unprepared she was for life without electricity.
"I realized I need to get more stuff like candles and flashlights," Anderson said. "It was a good wake-up call, especially when it's under circumstances that aren't bad — no terrorists, no emergency."
Loy Weston, a Lumaha'i Street resident, plans to buy a generator so next time there's a power outage, he won't have to look at a bunch of dead koi.
"They're all dying," Weston said. "I have 18-year-old fish that are dead. My buddies are all dead."
Weston spent much of the night keeping his fish alive by continually filling the ponds with water from garden hoses. Normally, electricity powers pumps that circulate water down two waterfalls, Weston said.
• Residents still without electricity are urged to call 548-7961. • For questions regarding food safety, emergency preparedness and more, see Hawaiian Electric's Web site at www.heco.com/
Joanna Bince, another Hawai'i Kai resident who lives on 'Ainahou Street, toughed out the night by going to bed early. In the morning, she was struck by life without electricity — no coffee, no hair dryer. But she had a cell phone and a phone that didn't require electricity.
Powerless?
"It's amazing how much we rely upon electricity," Bince said. "We're going to buy some batteries for the next time."
By midday yesterday, Foodland Supermarket in Koko Marina Center had no more ice, but batteries, flashlights and candles could still be found. Employees guided customers through the store by flashlight, said assistant store director Dale LeBlanc. The store was able to stay open because it has a backup generator that operated the cash registers, LeBlanc said.
But the store wasn't selling any of its perishable items — they would be thrown away because of potential spoilage, he said.
While technicians waited at the Koko Marina Theaters to deal with projectors that stopped mid-movie, Win Schoneman, owner of Bubbies Homemade Ice Cream and Desserts, opened early yesterday to give away ice cream.
He lost an estimated $10,000 worth of inventory — 240 gallons of ice cream that started melting yesterday.
"We're going to serve up some free milk shakes and make people happy," Schoneman said. "What else can you do?"
The rest of the shopping center looked like Christmas Day, with few cars in the parking lot and stores all dark.
Besides coping with a lack of electricity, the Board of Water Supply asked residents of Kamehame Ridge in East Honolulu to use water sparingly because power outages knocked out the booster pump that pushes water to the reservoir serving the area.
Twenty-six hours later, with the electricity back on and Newman trying to figure out what to salvage from the refrigerator, her three children were celebrating because they could watch television again.
"At least this doesn't happen too often," Newman said. "But my kindergartner sure was disappointed today that she couldn't go to school."
Staff writer Mike Gordon contributed to this report. Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
• • •
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser Hawaiian Electric recommends these tips for handling food after a protracted power outage: • A fully loaded separate freezer will keep food frozen for 48 hours to 72 hours. Food will remain frozen in a side-by-side freezer for about 12 hours and up to 24 hours in a top or bottom-mount freezer. • Fresh meat, poultry, luncheon meat and hotdogs should be discarded if allowed to warm to room temperature for more than two hours. • Milk and cream will probably sour after eight hours without refrigeration and should be thrown away. • Eggs will be safe for several days if shells have no cracks. • Opened mayonnaise should be discarded if left without refrigeration for more than two hours. • Meat, fish, chicken, fruits and vegetables can usually be refrozen if they have ice crystals still present or are below a temperature of 40 degrees. There will be some loss of quality and refrozen foods should be used as soon as possible. • Generally, if in doubt, throw it out. For more questions or concerns, call the Department of Health Sanitation Branch at 586-8000; or go to www.heco.com and follow the links under the "Safety and Emergency" heading. Source: Hawaiian Electric Company and the state Department of Health.
Win Schoneman, owner of Bubbies Ice Cream at Koko Marina Center, scooped softened ice cream to make a free shake for Mary Danley of Kalama Valley. He lost 240 gallons of ice cream because of the outages.
Food safety
