Oahu power outage

[Sandy VDH]

Just heard the news that the entire island of Oahu is in the dark, they had a generater fail knocking out part of the island last evening, but the strain on the another generator caused it to fail and now the entire island is without power.

 

[HatTrick]

From khnl.com:

Island wide power outage on Oahu may last 12-24 hours

Posted: Dec 26, 2008 10:57 PM

Updated: Dec 27, 2008 02:45 AM

HONOLULU (KHNL) - Rare Hawaii thunderstorms caused an island wide power outage on Oahu at around 6:45 PM Friday night as after-Christmas sales were in full swing and the vacationing President-elect of the United States wrapped up a day of sightseeing. A spokesperson for Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) along with Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann reported around 9:00 PM Friday that electricity would be out for most of the island of Oahu for 12-24 hours.

At 6:30 PM Friday night a thunderstorm caused an interruption in power which shut down all but one of HECO's power generating stations. Early reports indicated that Makakilo and Nanakuli were spared from the blackout but at around 8:30 PM the Kahe power plant went offline, leaving all of Oahu in the dark.

At around 10 PM Friday night, power began to come back online sporadically in leeward areas, particularly in areas near Kahe power plant.

Mayor Hannemann reported at 10:10 PM that he had been in contact with President-elect Obama's staff and that the president-elect and his family were holding up well and were getting ready to go to bed. Obama is vacationing in Kailua. Governor Linda Lingle told KSSK radio that HECO had offered backup generators to the president-elect but was not able to confirm that the generators had been delivered.

Radio station KSSK is reporting that mainland bound flights are leaving Honolulu International Airport, with the exception of United Airlines, which has postponed flights until Saturday morning. Hawaiian and Mokulele airlines are operating interisland flights. Travelers should expect delays on all flights.

The Hawaii Superferry will depart Honolulu Saturday morning as scheduled (first voyage).

Police are asking residents to use 911 service for emergencies only. Avoid travel but if you must drive, treat all intersections as a four-way stop.

Water supply officials urge all residents to conserve water. Hospitals are operating under emergency power.

 

[Kauai Kid]

Pen Light Flashlight

The entire island of Kauai went black a couple years ago during a Kona storm.
Darkest experience of my life. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Thank goodness I remembered the pen light flash light in my shave kit. Had to feel my way around the condo from the kitchen to the bathroom and then search through the shave kit blind.

One penlight puts out a tremendous amount of light when there isn't any.

The condo didn't have any emergency lights.

After that experience I ALWAYS carry two penlights with fresh batteries every time we travel.

Sterling

 

[Fern Modena]

I used to carry a small battery flashlight until the time it turned on in my luggage and when I wanted to use it, it was DOA. I now carry an inexpensive "shake flashlight." Works much better for me. I got it at Walgreen's for about $5.

Fern

One penlight puts out a tremendous amount of light when there isn't any.

The condo didn't have any emergency lights.

After that experience I ALWAYS carry two penlights with fresh batteries every time we travel.

Sterling

 

[BocaBum99]

We were at a Luau at Paradise Cove when we heard the nearby power plant surging for several minutes. We saw the lightning from the thunderstorm. Fortunately, Paradise Cove has back up power so we were able to watch the entire show.

When the show was finished, we went back to the Ko'Olina were the power was out. Back up power was on. But the units were blacked out. We got power back in about 2 hours.

The Ko'Olina staff handed out glow sticks to everyone. It was actually a bit fun. Happy we weren't in Waikiki. Traffic jams would have been horrible late at night.

 

[Kauai Kid]

I use the "mag light". You turn it on by screwing the lens out a half a turn or so.

Also on Hawaii things at night are extremely dark even when there is power. Nice to have in dark spots, getting out of the car, etc.

Sterling

 

[jsfletch]

Aloha Boca: We we're sitting on our lanai about 200yd from the luau when the balckout hit. We didn't get power back for about 3-4hrs. No TV and internet for most of the following day. Tells one that Marriott and the new Pres. have better connections than the ave. Tugger.