StarBulletin.com

Aloha spirit lit night with officers and residents keeping the peace


By

POSTED: Sunday, December 28, 2008

On a night when anything could have happened, Friday's islandwide blackout caused no major accidents, incidents or injuries, city officials said.

“;Every crisis presents an opportunity,”; Mayor Mufi Hannemann said. “;This was an opportunity to demonstrate how well and effective our first responders are, and showcase that the spirit of aloha is here.”;

On top of the late-night and early-morning officers on the street, the Ho-nolulu Police Department pulled in 84 nonpatrol officers to assist, mostly to direct traffic at hundreds of blacked-out intersections.

“;If anything, it shows the personality of the community,”; said police Maj. Frank Fujii. “;For the most part, people were very courteous.”;

Maria Koko said she felt safe despite having to drive from Aiea to Waimanalo on Friday night in the dark with seven grandchildren in her vehicle.

She said she was glad to hear of no major incidents of accidents, and was happy to see a police officer at almost every intersection she passed through.

“;It says that we care,”; said Koko, 49. “;The thing is not to panic. Besides, it's the best time to go to sleep.”;

There also was no interruption in the city mass transit services, and satellite city halls were reopened once power was restored.

However, not all city services went unscathed.

Sewage plants got power from backup generators, Hannemann said. However, the outage shut down ultraviolet disinfection units at the city's Wahiawa and Sand Island wastewater treatment plants for 16 minutes in Wahiawa and 20 minutes at Sand Island, according to the city Department of Environmental Services.

About a million gallons of treated sewage without disinfection was released through the Sand Island plant's deep-ocean outfall. About 30,880 gallons of partially treated sewage was discharged into the Wahiawa Reservoir.

The Fire Department responded to 185 incidents, not all caused by the outage, said fire Capt. Earle Kealoha. They included:

» eight building fires.

» 42 reports of people stuck in elevators.

» eight reports of arcing wires or electrical problems.

» 19 alarms, most of which likely occurred when power was restored.

The city Emergency Services Department added two dispatchers to the usual three on duty yesterday, and two more ambulances to the usual 19, said emergency District Chief Bobby Pedro.

Water reservoirs were depleted by the power outage because the pumps are run by electricity, said Board of Water Supply spokeswoman Su Shin. Water was restored to all customers early yesterday evening, she said.

But residents are still being asked to conserve water through the weekend to allow reservoirs to recharge.

Hannemann stayed at the Emergency Operations Center for most of yesterday. He said the city Department of Emergency Management, which was about to start up when the 2006 earthquake occurred, enhanced coordination between agencies.

Hannemann said he visited Waikiki and listened to several tourists talking about how impressed they were with how Oahu residents took the blackout in stride. One was a man from New York.

“;He said, 'You would've had honking, screaming on the streets, perhaps looting, theft,'”; the mayor said.

“;He said, 'Mr. Mayor, I was so impressed with how the citizens of Honolulu handled this. You'd never see this on the mainland.' I think it speaks volumes of our people.”;