Workers from the Kaua’i Island Utilities Cooperative had a long day on Wednesday. “It is what it is. All we can do is take the phone calls and ask for the locations,” said Anne Barnes, KIUC spokesperson Wednesday afternoon, of
Workers from the Kaua’i Island Utilities Cooperative had a long day on Wednesday.
“It is what it is. All we can do is take the phone calls and ask for the locations,” said Anne Barnes, KIUC spokesperson Wednesday afternoon, of calls about electricity still being out.
Barnes said she had been on duty since 4:30 a.m. yesterday at KIUC, and had received hundreds of calls from residents around the island. She advised the public to listen to radio broadcasts, then call KIUC if their area had an outage but was not mentioned.
KIUC’s entire crew, with assistance from contracted tree-trimming workers from Asplundh and Mauna Kea, were out on the roads since the wee hours of Wednesday, she said. “And I don’t want them to be up all night again. So send out a prayer for the winds to die down.”
Wednesday afternoon, pockets of Lihu’e including Molokoa subdivision and neighborhoods near the Lihu’e Neighborhood Center were still without electricity.
One of the most complicated electric-line repairs was in Wailua Homesteads, where a tree fell onto a line along Kuamo’o Road near Hie Street, just past Alexander’s Nursery. The fallen tree closed the road for several hours.
Barnes referred callers to the co-op’s Web site (www.kiuc.coop) for information about electrical safety.
By this morning, KIUC crews were expected to have completed removing and repairing all lines.
Barnes warned local residents to be careful around downed lines, as they can be re-energized if they touch other lines, are struck by lightning, or interact with another source of electricity. High voltages can be transmitted through wet objects like tree branches, fences or vehicles, she said.
“The best protection is to unplug any equipment and/or appliance. Please know that in today’s electronic age, even when something may be ‘off,’ electrically it may still be on. For a TV remote to ‘turn on’ the TV, the TV is actually electrically already on. Also, for ceiling lights and fans that were on when the power went off, remember to turn the light switch to off,” Barnes said.
As of late yesterday afternoon, power had been restored to most areas.
More than 30 crew from KIUC were out, some since midnight.
The emergency outage number overnight is 246-8200.
Traffic lights were affected by the power outage, and Kaua’i Police Department officers directed traffic at Lihu’e intersections, as all traffic signals along Rice Street to the Kaumuali’i-Kuhio Highway junction were not functioning.
Staff Writer Kendyce Manguchei can be reached at kmanguchei@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 252).
