Posted on: Monday, January 10, 2005
Lightning gives O'ahu a show
By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
A thunderstorm over O'ahu early yesterday knocked out power to more than 6,000 homes, triggered a large sewage spill and lit up Island skies with one of the most prolonged lightning shows in memory.
"It was the coolest lightning I'd seen for quite a while," said Dwight Kau, a 29-year-old Kailua resident who watched the light show from his porch. "I stayed up pretty late. It was different, it was interesting."
For others, the storm was a regular part of living in Hawai'i during the rainy season, which runs from late November through March, according to the National Weather Service.
"We had heard about it on the news so we expected it," said Annette Forness of Kailua. "It was nothing unusual."
The weather service said a band of thundershowers kicked up rain and lightning from about 11 p.m. Saturday to 2:30 a.m. yesterday. Wai'anae Valley was the wettest spot on O'ahu, getting 2.39 inches of rain in the 24-hour period ending at 2 p.m. yesterday. Aloha Tower got 1.54 inches and 'Ahuimanu got 1.44 inches.
"It made an impression on the populous but there was no flood threat," forecaster Jeff Powell said.
Powell said the storm system has left O'ahu and that the weather should be clearing up today. He said the Big Island will be socked in with clouds and rain but will start to clear tomorrow. He said the skies will clear over Kaua'i today, and that by Wednesday clear conditions are expected statewide.
Lightning hit Hawaiian Electric Co.'s Waialua substation, knocking out electricity to 2,471 customers, said HECO spokeswoman Pepi Nieva. Power was restored at 10:45 a.m.
Wind damaged a utility pole in Hale'iwa, leaving 1,362 North Shore customers in the dark from 11 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. yesterday, Nieva said. In Makaha, 2,200 HECO customers were without power from midnight to 8:26 a.m., and 300 Kailua homes lost power from midnight to 4 a.m.
The power problems in Kailua, caused by wind gusts and rain, cut off electricity to the Kailua sewage treatment plant from 1:30 to 4 a.m. The plant's emergency generators malfunctioned and 600,000 gallons of partially treated sewage spilled onto the facility grounds and into Nu'upia Pond at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i at Kane'ohe.
City officials said pollution warning signs would be posted and water testing would start immediately. The state Department of Health was monitoring the situation.
The weather also caused several road closures.
Police closed Kamehameha Highway in both directions near Kawela Bay from 1:40 to 3:40 a.m. after a tree fell and blocked the roadway. Also, the Waimalu on-ramp and off-ramp of the H-1 Freeway's westbound lanes were closed briefly beginning at 1:40 a.m. because of flooding caused by a blocked storm drain.
Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8110.
