Lights out in Honolulu
Posted Dec 28, 2008 @ 4:38 am, Viewed by 417 Visitors, Read 434 Times.On the night after Christmas, when all through the house, we were all in the dark.
We were enjoying a family dinner with my mom and stepdad in Hawaii Kai. As we finished up, the lights flickered a few times. We ignored the flickering and continued talking. Then, around 6:45 p.m. we lost electricity.
Hawaii Kai and the surrounding neighborhoods were almost pitch black. Cars driving along Kalanianaole Highway illuminated the coastline. Some buildings had backup power to light their stairways and grounds.
We looked around in the dark (not easy to do) and found the candles and flashlights. We also had a hand-crank radio/flashlight. It doesn't require batteries, which can come in handy. Thank you to uncle Wally for that gift!
Most cell phones were still operational. We called family and friends to see if they had electricity. Nearly the entire island was in the dark. Makakilo and Kapolei were the only areas with reports of power.
We cranked up the radio and listened to KSSK. For the first hour, phone calls to the station were of little use. Most callers said "We don't have electricity! What's going on - is it out all over the island?" The same thing over and over. I guess these people weren't listening to the radio, they were just calling in.
By 9 p.m. we started getting reports from Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO), the mayor and the governor. Power was out everywhere. Makakilo and Kapolei had still had electricity when most of the island lost theirs, but then it went out in those neighborhoods too. They urged Oahu residents to stay off the roads and conserve water. Predictions were that power would be restored in about 12 hours.
People were also worried about president-elect Obama and his family. They are currently vacationing in Kailua. The secret service was checking out the property where Obama was staying. Callers to the radio station said they could see flashlights darting all around the property.
We woke up this morning and electricity was back on in Palolo Valley. That was a relief. This evening's news showed video of lightning strikes near the power generation plant in downtown Honolulu. That may have caused the problem, there still seems to be uncertainty though.
As of this evening, 24 hours+ after the power outage, most neighborhoods have electricity again. There are a few spots here and there where HECO is still working to restore service.
Our last major power outage was in October 15, 2006, which resulted from an earthquake. The quake somehow upset the generation system on Oahu that Sunday morning and power was out for most of the day. We hope for many more years until the next power outage!
Aloha, Mike
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Mike Bates is a realtor associate on the island of Oahu. He's lived on Oahu, Maui, Molokai and the Big Island for 28 years and is here to share his knowledge of the Hawaiian Islands with you. Read More
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Well, I guess if I had to choose a place to be without electricity it would be Hawaii! LOL! Although it doesn't happen too often, we get outages from bad storms and other things. Not fun in extreme weather.