WAILUKU, Maui — Cut off on one side of Pi'ilani Highway by the closure of an earthquake-damaged bridge and on the other side by the threat of deadly rockfalls, Kaupo General Store has seen its business drop to one or two customers a day.

Store proprietor Linda Domen and her family rely on the 100 to 200 cars that pass daily through the tiny village of 35 or so residents who have chosen a quiet, off-the-grid lifestyle on the remote backside of Haleakala. Most of the motorists are tourists on their way to or from Hana and the Pools of 'Ohe'o in Kipahulu who stop at the store for a cold drink, a snack or a souvenir.

"Usually there's a constant flow. On a busy day we make enough to provide for ourselves, but it's pretty much come to a stop since the earthquake," she said. "There are only a couple cars of really brave souls out on an adventure."

Most are unaware the highway is closed, she said, and either ignored or missed the road signs warning of "death and serious injury" from falling boulders at Manawainui. The boulders were jarred loose by the Oct. 15 earthquakes and subsequent heavy rain.

In Wailua, between Kipahulu and Hana, Paihi Bridge was closed a couple days after the quakes. That's when geologists determined the rock foundation beneath the one-lane concrete bridge had fractured and chunks had fallen off, putting it in danger of immediate collapse.

Concrete barriers have stopped vehicles, but residents still walk across the 95-year-old bridge despite the risk.

County officials said they hope to have an emergency bridge in place within 30 days. At Manawainui, the state Department of Transportation is investigating the best way to make the area safer, said county Managing Director Keith Regan, perhaps by blasting the unstable hillside and hauling away the rubble.

There are no guards to stop people from crossing the damaged bridge on foot or to prevent cars from traveling through Kaupo, and residents cite a "don't ask, don't tell" policy when questioned about how they are getting to work and school.

Flooding often closes Pi'ilani Highway so isolation and hardship are nothing new to Kaupo residents, who rely on solar, wind and photovoltaic electrical systems or diesel generators.

"We've seen a lot of things like this. We've lived through it in the past. We're survivors," said Domen, who has lived in Kaupo for 30 years.

She has enough food and other supplies for her family, but found it unsettling to lose telephone service for two weeks after poles and lines were felled in the earthquakes. Service was restored last weekend.

More worrisome, Domen said, is the uncertainty of whether the road will have to be closed for a long period to accommodate bridge construction and rock clearing.

"We're concerned financially about how long is it going to take and where are we going to get the money to pay the bills, because we can't go out and get a job. Not everybody can relocate," she said. "We have animals and gardens. We have a life."

In Kipahulu, residents continue to take the bridge closure in stride and no one is without food, water or other necessities. The community of several hundred is used to living without county water or Maui Electric Co. service and relying on neighbors for kokua, if needed.

To discourage residents from leaving the isolated area and traveling on dangerous roads to restock essentials, the county is working with the state to arrange a supply lift by a Hawai'i Army National Guard helicopter. The first flight, scheduled for yesterday, was called off due to bad weather.

Another attempt will be made today, with a CH-47 Chinook carrying four 55-gallon drums of gasoline, 54 containers of propane, 52 5-gallon jugs of water, two large generators and food.

"We want to keep them from leaving to take care of things. We don't want them to take that risk," Regan said.

Plans call for two supply flights a week until the emergency bridge is open.

Longtime Kipahulu resident John MacKillop, 63, who farms bananas on four acres, said he has plenty of propane and other supplies on hand, but is leaving for the Big Island today to wait out the bridge closure and seek medical care. MacKillop, who has bladder cancer, has been unable to see his primary-care doctor in Hana, and travel to his other physician in Wailuku has been difficult.

Despite the inconveniences caused by the bridge closure, he and other Kipahulu residents said they are enjoying the peace from to the absence of hundreds of rental cars that would normally be cruising through their community daily to visit the Pools of 'Ohe'o at Haleakala National Park and the grave of aviator Charles Lindbergh.

"We're really glad there are no tourists. That's been the one good thing to come from this. And now that there are no tourists on the road, the road doesn't get broken down," he said.

Students from Kaupo and Kipahulu are still managing to find their way to Hana High & Elementary School, with few absences attributed to the Paihi Bridge closure, according to Principal Rick Paul. Some of the children are staying with friends or relatives in Hana, and others are being escorted across the bridge by their parents before catching rides, although no one wants to admit it publicly.

In case of a lengthy road closure, Paul is making arrangements for the students to study at home via an online curriculum or at a space provided by Haleakala National Park, which has closed its Kipahulu District due to unsafe roads.

County officials are holding regular meetings with Kipahulu and Kaupo residents to provide updates, and Wednesday they delivered an ice machine to the Kipahulu Community Kitchen, a commercial facility where residents prepare poi, salsa and other locally made food products for sale. Mayor Alan Arakawa has assigned executive assistant Zeke Kalua to stay in the area to serve as a liaison with the community.

Regan said the county's top priorities are reconnecting Hana and Kipahulu and making the Manawainui passage safer for motorists. The county this week signed a contract with Hawaiian Dredging to install a 120-foot span to serve as an emergency bridge at Wailua. The structure has been ordered from Acrow Corp. in New Jersey and would be located makai of the existing bridge.

Regan said there are no plans to install a footbridge, as some residents suggested.

Paihi Bridge, built in 1911, was already slated for replacement before the earthquakes, with the project put out to bid last month. Construction was expected to start early next year, but the project could be delayed because the new damage likely will require design changes.

While DOT officials work on plans to remove dangerous boulders at Manawainui, Regan said a long-term solution to the rockfall problem there and at Kalepa and 'Alele farther along Pi'ilani Highway could be to install protective barriers and netting on the mountainside.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.