A downed utility pole continued to cause trouble in Lihu‘e yesterday after falling into a tree Wednesday night, resulting in a one-hour outage. As Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative crews worked yesterday to replace the pole on the corner of Umi
A downed utility pole continued to cause trouble in Lihu‘e yesterday after falling into a tree Wednesday night, resulting in a one-hour outage.
As Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative crews worked yesterday to replace the pole on the corner of Umi and Hardy streets, they hit a county water line.
KIUC President and CEO Randy Hee said the pole fell after a steel wire anchoring it to the ground gave way Wednesday night.
In addition to power outages in parts of Lihu‘e, Oceanic Time Warner Cable service to the area was disrupted.
Ann Nishida, communications manager for Hawaiian Telcom, said there were no phone outages, though the company helped reattach cables during the replacement yesterday
KIUC President and CEO Randy Hee said the cost of replacing the pole at about $10,000. However, he estimated the actual cost to be more because of the impact on other utilities.
Hee noted that the pole had been weakened by termite infestation, which contributed to the fall after the anchor failed. It was last inspected for termite damage in 2003 as part of a KIUC monitoring program.
