Updated at 11:15 p.m., Wednesday, December 5, 2007
About 8,000 on O'ahu without electricity
Advertiser Staff
About 8,000 customers on O'ahu remained without power as of 10:50 tonight as Hawaiian Electric Co. crews continued to respond to downed utility poles and power outages caused by the strong winds and heavy rains.HECO said communities without power are parts of the Wahiawa, Nanakuli to Ma'ili, Waipahu, Waimanalo, Nu'uanu, Palolo, St. Louis Heights and Maunalani Heights.
Power was restored late tonight to 15,000 customers in Windward O'ahu, the North Shore and Moanalua.
HECO said people in those areas should expect to be without power tonight and plan accordingly.
HECO crews earlier tonight restored power to more than 4,000 customers in 'Ewa Beach and on the North Shore near Waialua, Mokule'ia, Kahuku and parts of Sunset Beach, said Lynne Unemori, HECO vice president of corporate relations.
"The downed poles are obviously a big problem, especially out on Farrington Highway," HECO spokesman Darren Pai said earlier today. "A lot of it has to do with just the wind blowing lines around, blowing debris into lines, blowing tree branches into lines. Those are the majority of the problems that we've seen."
HECO reminds people to stay away from fallen or low-hanging wires and to avoid puddles where downed lines may have landed.
