The age of electronic media doesn't work so well when there isn't any electricity.

On Friday night when the whole island went down, it might as well have been 1992 and Hurricane Iniki. Forget e-mail and Web sites, forget television news and cordless phones. It was all about calling the radio station and asking, "What's happening?!"

How strange to be so disconnected from the usual multi-streamed flow of information. It made being in the dark seem even darker.

KHVH's Mike Buck was on the front line in those first minutes, trying to run several radio stations at once, calm fears and disseminate information without having much information to disseminate. It was a laudable effort.

The lights went off around 6:30 Friday night and at 7:20, Buck was saying, "Still nothing from Hawaiian Electric." At 7:45, state Civil Defense called in to the emergency system simulcast headquartered at KSSK to say yes, the outage was islandwide and stay off the roads. About the same time, HECO spokesman Peter Rosegg, winded from climbing flights of stairs to the radio station's studio, became the voice of authority, staying on air most of the night and well into Saturday morning. Mayor Hannemann and his spokesperson Bill Brennan frequently updated the community via the radio, and Hannemann was the first to say it would be at least 12 hours before the lights came back on.

Still, what inevitably ends up happening when there is just one media outlet for people to call with their concerns and questions is that the concerns and questions get petty very quickly. It's maddening to listen to someone fret about their fish tank pump when you just want to know what the heck is going on.

The last islandwide power failure — in 2006 following an earthquake — was supposed to serve as a "wake up call" to O'ahu. That time, as with this time, there was no widespread damage to contend with, as would come with a hurricane or major storm. Lucky, we said. Could have been worse. Still, a task force was convened in the wake of that 2006 experience, because people felt they were kept in the dark without information for too long.

Did the folks in charge do a better job this time? Better, sure, but there's certainly room for improvement.

Information got out faster, but particularly in that first hour, not fast enough. Power came back early Saturday morning to some places, but other neighborhoods were left wondering all day what to expect and what the heck happened to the big storm that supposedly caused all the trouble. And too many people were in their cars cruising for ice or gas or snacks.

So here's a louder wake-up call for everyone from the utility companies down to the little guy at home with a flashlight and a cup of Sterno-heated coffee: The next time we might not be so lucky.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.