Posted at 1:24 p.m., Friday, November 3, 2006
Supplies delivered to remote Maui area
Advertiser Staff
WAILUKU, Maui — A Hawai`i Army National Guard helicopter lifted off from the Pu`unene Armory just before noon today on the first of two flights to take supplies to residents of Kaupo and Kipahulu.The CH-47 Chinook carrying carried food, water and other supplies on its first trip, and will return later today with gasoline, propane and two large generators. The flights were to have taken place yesterday but were postponed due to bad weather.
The supply flights will continue twice a week until an emergency bridge is erected at Wailua, between Hana and Kipahulu. The 95-year-old Paihi Bridge at that location is closed because of damage caused by the Oct. 15 earthquakes. County officials said it will take about 30 days to get the emergency structure up and to reopen the highway.
The several hundred residents of the remote communities of Kaupo and Kipahulu, who rely on their own water and power systems, report they have enough supplies, but officials said the airlifts are being made to keep the residents from driving out on unsafe roads to restock.
Because the area's 80 registered voters are cut off from their usual polling place in Hana, the Maui County Clerk's Office has arranged for two staffers to be flown by helicopter to the isolated area tomorrow to conduct balloting from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kipahulu Community Kitchen. Residents also have the option of voting in Hana Tuesday on Election Day.
