FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Evidence of Saturday night's heavy rains and thunderstorm showed yesterday as the roadway was partially flooded along Puuloa Road near Mapunapuna Place. A bus stop bench was completely surrounded by water at this location.

Isle skies sizzle
as storm passes

It looked like New Year's a week late.

Nature put on a thundering show late Saturday night and early yesterday, with lightning and thunder seen and heard throughout Oahu.

But the show didn't come without a price. The lightning was coupled with heavy rain and strong winds, which caused power failures, flooding and a waste-water spill on Oahu.

The nasty weather system moved toward the Big Island yesterday, said Jeff Powell, lead forecaster of the National Weather Service.

"The thunderstorm has been shoved over to the northeast. We just have lingering showers over Oahu, Maui and the Big Island," said Powell. Rain is predicted to continue today.

A few thunderstorms are also predicted to occur on the Big Island today. A high-wind warning was also issued yesterday for summits on the Big Island.

More than 2,400 North Shore customers in Haleiwa and Waialua suffered a power failure during the storm. And there were outages in Aikahi, Makaha and Kahuku because of downed power lines and poles.

The rainy weather also caused flooding at the H-1 Waimalu onramp and offramp. Kamehameha Highway was temporarily closed near Kawela Bay when a fallen 30-foot-long tree blocked the roadway.

A power failure and heavy rain caused about 600,000 gallons of waste water from the Kailua Regional Waste Water Treatment Plant to spill into the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii Naval Reservation's Nuupia Pond.

The pond discharges into Kailua Bay, said Dale Takanishi, waste-water branch engineer of the city's Environmental Services.

Warning signs were to be posted from the Marine Corps Air Station to the yacht club, said Takanishi. Water samples were collected yesterday at the affected areas.

Kauai also was affected by the same weather system, with residents in Kapaa getting drenched by a little more than an inch of rain falling at Lihue Airport during a one-hour period on Saturday.