Strong winds, high surf and heavy rains battered O'ahu yesterday, causing power outages, downing utility lines and trees and canceling city ferry service through today.

Forecasters said to expect more of the same today.

The city activated its Emergency Operating Center yesterday, anticipating a strong front to move in overnight with gusts up to 60 mph and drenching rains. With the ground already saturated, officials were bracing for the worst.

"Hopefully, this just blows over," said John Cummings, spokesman for the city Department of Emergency Management. "We're in preparedness mode right now."

Last night, the Red Cross opened three shelters on the Wai'anae Coast and civil defense workers were advising hundreds of homeless people living along miles of beach to leave the shoreline.

By 11 p.m. yesterday, only a handful of people were at the shelters, but more were trickling in.

Though the worst of the wet, windy weather was expected to blow over O'ahu by early today, forecasters said intermittent heavy rains and gusty winds were expected to persist through the weekend.

A high-wind warning remains in effect through this evening, while a flash flood watch expires tomorrow afternoon. "This is a fairly big and complicated weather system," said weather service forecaster Peter Donaldson. "There will be heavy rains off and on."

Throughout yesterday, heavy showers and high winds caused plenty of problems around the island. The weather prompted the city to cancel all TheBoat trips yesterday and today, and also spurred an early shutdown of Honolulu City Lights viewing at 7 p.m. "We encourage people to stop by another evening," Mayor Mufi Hannemann said.

The city also secured Christmas displays at Honolulu Hale yesterday in anticipation of the high winds, and crews cleared debris and checked drainage areas because of the threat of heavy rains.

About 4 p.m. yesterday, city officials activated the emergency operating center, bringing together first responders, representatives from city departments and others to deal with any big problems.

The winds picked up on O'ahu about 10 a.m. yesterday.

A 20-year-old soldier was seriously injured at Dillingham Air Field about 6 p.m. when winds picked up a large tent being set up, said city emergency services spokesman Bryan Cheplic.

A tent pole estimated at 50 to 60 pounds struck the man, Cheplic said. He was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in serious but stable condition, Cheplic said.

About 11 a.m., a utility line fell over Kamehameha Highway in Kane'ohe, closing two lanes for more than an hour. It is believed the line was brought down by high winds.

The weather also caused several power outages yesterday.

About 7:20 p.m., 1,600 customers in Kailua were left without power when a coconut palm frond blew into a power line. An outage in Kahala that left about 200 customers without power from 1 to 3 p.m. was also weather-related, while officials were investigating the cause of an outage in Ka'a'awa that left 600 people without power.

Last night, power outages were also reported in Kunia, 'Ewa, and Hale'iwa. Hawaiian Electric Company did not immediately have counts on how many customers were affected.

Also yesterday, city crews spent about eight hours clearing away a 78-year-old tree that fell at the Bodaiji Mission on Elm Street. The tree fell on a windless night during a light rain.

"This is considered the second-biggest tree in the city," said Bodaiji Rev. Koji Nochi. The bodhi tree, about 25 feet high, split in two, falling partially on the mission property and half across the entire width of Elm Street.

DOWNED TREES

Last night, firefighters responded to several other reports of downed trees on the Windward and Leeward sides, said Capt. Terry Seelig, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman.

One of the downed trees fell across Farrington Highway in Waialua about 5:45 p.m., forcing crews to contraflow traffic for hours while they moved the tree, Seelig said.

Schofield Barracks got some of the highest gusts yesterday, ranging from 43 to 51 mph. Kahuku, Makua Range and Wheeler Air Force Base also saw gusts upward of 40 mph.

Despite the threat of strong winds and heavy rain, homeless people along the Wai'anae Coast were not flocking to shelters opened last night at area schools. By 10 p.m., only a handful of people had opted to sleep in the shelters, set up at Nanakuli High, Ma'ili Elementary and Wai'anae Elementary.

About 9 p.m., there were a host of tents flapping in a strong breeze at Kea'au Beach Park in Makaha. There were also plenty of people along the shoreline at Sewers Beach.

Richard Tacgere, 38, who sleeps on the beach, said civil defense workers told people along Sewers to evacuate, but did not tell them where to go. " Right now, I don't know what we're supposed to do," he said, about 8 p.m. "There are still a lot of people out there."

High surf was also a problem yesterday, as wind whipped up already-high waves. At Waimea Bay yesterday, lifeguards rescued three people, officials said.

High surf on Monday also prompted the Hawaii Superferry to delay the relaunching of its Maui-to-Honolulu service, after harbor surges damaged the pier.

A high-surf advisory for north- and west-facing shores remains in effect through today. The weather service said waves with faces up to 22 feet should be expected on the North Shore, while west-facing shores should expect faces up to 12 feet by this afternoon.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

The winds brought in Portuguese man-o-war jellyfish, Cheplic said. About 20 people were treated for stings in Waikiki yesterday.

The Neighbor Islands also got hit by the winds and rain. A flash flood warning was issued for Kaua'i last night.

Moloaa Dairy on Kaua'i saw gusts up to 56 mph yesterday. And Kaua'i police said last night they were responding to several reports of downed trees and utility poles and damaged roofs. No significant damage was reported, however.

On the Big Island, winds that blew up to 50 mph caused power outages around the island, and dropped trees and limbs that partially blocked some roadways, Big Island Mayor Harry Kim said.

Also, a number of children in an afterschool program at Keonepoko Elementary School in the Lower Puna subdivision of Hawaiian Beaches had to delay their departure from the school when the winds downed a power line, creating a hazard, Kim said. He said the downed line was cleared at about 4:30 p.m.

A large power outage also affected the makai side of Highway 130 from the Hawaiian Paradise Park area to Pahoa.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com and Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.