Wind, rain A cold front moving across the island chain brought high wind and heavy showers this morning, causing power outages and making for a miserable morning commute.
disrupt isles’
power, traffic
7 radio stations were
silenced for an hourStar-Bulletin staff
The showers should disappear by today, while the high wind will continue for another day, said Hans Rosendahl, National Weather Service lead forecaster.
National Weather Service
interactive Hawaii radarThere were at least four power outages this morning, affecting east and windward Oahu and Mililani. All were attributed to the weather, HECO officials said. About 50 commercial and industrial customers in Iwilei were without power for about an hour, beginning about 7:20 a.m. The cause was not determined but gusty winds may have been the culprit.
"It wasn't a transformer, not a fuse, not any kind of equipment problem," said HECO spokesman Fred Kobashikawa. "It could have been something blown into the lines, or winds blowing the conductors near to each other."
The Iwilei outage knocked off seven Oahu radio stations belonging to Texas-based Clear Channel Communications Inc. The stations went off the air about 7:22 a.m., for about an hour, silencing morning programs that give traffic updates.
The Iwilei outage also knocked out traffic lights, adding to commuters' traffic woes as they tried to make their way to work through the heavy rain.
An outage in Kaneohe began at 9:55 a.m., affecting 1,600 customers in the Keapuka area. Power was restored at 10:27 a.m.
Residents and business from Aina Haina to Kahala also were without power. HECO officials said 3,300 customers were affected beginning about 10 a.m.
Another outage occurred about the same time in Mililani but details were not available.
The cold front also brought high surf. The weather service issued a high surf advisory for all northwest-facing shores.
Lifeguards, concerned about an influx of Portuguese man-o-wars, were inspecting beaches and posting warning signs this morning.
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