Fallen trees, mud and debris line Kula Highway and Lower Kula Road on Monday in the aftermath of a Kona storm that brought excessive rain and high winds overnight Sunday. Some Upcountry residents were still without water and power on Wednesday as crews slogged through debris and repaired damaged pipes to restore electrical and water service. The Maui News / LILA FUJIMOTO photo
Power and water outages persisted across Maui on Wednesday in the wake of a storm that swamped gulches and toppled lines and trees, making it difficult for repair crews to access remote areas.
Of the estimated 22,000 customers on Maui who lost power during the storm, less than a dozen in pockets of Upcountry and Hana were still offline as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to Hawaiian Electric.
“Restoration has taken time as each area had varying degrees of damage to electrical equipment, such as downed power lines and poles, especially in heavily wooded areas like the Upcountry area,” Mat McNeff, Hawaiian Electric director for Maui, Molokai and Lanai, told The Maui News on Wednesday. “To expedite restorations, we brought in Hawaiian Electric workers from Oahu and we appreciate the continued understanding as crews are working to safely restore everyone as quickly as possible.”
Bringing power back to Upcountry took time due to large trees and other debris that had to be cleared ahead of repairs, McNeff said. Two crews hiked in by foot with their gear and repair equipment to make fixes in a remote area of Upper Kula that couldn’t be safely accessed by helicopter or off-road vehicles on Wednesday.
Late Wednesday evening, Hawaiian Electric announced that crews would have to make emergency repairs to a pole damaged by the storm in the Peahi area, forcing an outage for about 1,900 customers from Peahi to East Maui from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. today. Customers in parts of Haiku would also experience an outage from 10 to 11 p.m. Wednesday and from 4 to 5 a.m. today. Times also depend on how work progresses.
A fallen tree is one of several blown down at a Kihei Commercial Center parking lot Monday morning. Some Maui residents were still without power and water on Wednesday in the wake of a storm that flooded roads, toppled trees and knocked out electrical service across the island. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Maui bore the brunt of the Kona low storm on Sunday and Monday, with many customers losing power on Sunday evening. McNeff said that crews restored power to 75 percent of affected customers by Monday evening. The storm “caused significant damage” to Maui’s transmission system that serves Upcountry, South and West Maui.
“With the transmission system being the foundation of our island’s electrical system, our crews had to make repairs to these main lines first,” McNeff explained. “Once repairs of the main transmission lines were complete, our crews tackled the hundreds of individual residential customers and businesses affected from neighborhood to neighborhood across the island with varying degrees of repairs and limited access to certain areas.”
As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, about 200 customers were still without power in pockets of Pukalani, Kula, Haiku, Wailuku, Lahaina and Hana. The Haleakala Crater summit was expected to remain without power for an extended time due to downed power lines.
There were no significant damage or outages on Molokai and Lanai, the company said.
New outages often occur after a storm, with more trees falling into power lines because the ground is oversaturated, the company added.
McNeff said that Hawaiian Electric conducts “ongoing maintenance and hardening of our electrical system” to help prevent outages in storms, including installing heavier, insulated conductors in areas of Molokai and Maui that are dense with trees that could fall on electrical equipment during a storm. The company also manages vegetation and trims trees near power lines.
“We are also working to modernize the grid — installing more automation that can help to identify issues and restore customers more quickly,” McNeff said.
Donna Clayton, president of the Pukalani Community Association, said that she lost power at her home for about 20 hours from Sunday night to Monday afternoon.
“I was lucky. I had an empty refrigerator,” Clayton said. “I had just cleaned it out and I hadn’t stocked it, so I had no problems at all.”
Clayton, who had an emergency kit she received from a Chamber of Commerce training session, flipped on a Bunsen burner, heated up some Spam and opened up rations of crackers and sardines. She said neighbors were cooking on their barbecues, and others went out to restaurants to pick up food.
Another outage also hit Kahului on Wednesday afternoon, impacting about 100 customers near Dairy Road, Hookele Street and Alamaha Street, Hawaiian Electric said shortly before 1 p.m. Spokesperson Shayna Decker said that the outage was due to a downed pole, and that the company was assessing what caused the pole to come down.
Walmart, one of the affected businesses in the area, opened at 4 p.m., a company spokesperson said.
“Everything is operating normally expect the vision center and bank which will remain closed the rest of the day,” said Ashley Nolan, global communications senior manager for Walmart Corporate Affairs.
Meanwhile, the county Department of Water Supply on Wednesday reported another water main break in Hapapa Gulch near Pulehu Road, affecting Upper Kula. Residents may experience low water pressure or no water service while repairs are ongoing, the department warned.
After the pipe is repaired, it will take several hours to fill nearby water tanks to reestablish water service. The department expected the pipe repair work to be completed Wednesday, with service restored to Upper Kula today. When water is restored, residents and businesses may experience brown water and should flush their waterlines until water runs clear.
Potable water tankers are located at Fong Store, the Kula Community Center, Ulupalakua Ranch Office, Kula Fire Station, Rice Park near the restrooms and Silversword Condos above Kula Lodge.
For emergency repairs and updates, call (808) 270-7633.
The Mayor Hannibal Tavares Center in Pukalani will open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. today to provide bottled water and nonperishable food, as well as charging services, the county said. Residents should bring their own USB chargers.
County spokesperson Brian Perry said Wednesday evening that water service remained out from Upper Kimo Drive to Kanaio but didn’t have an estimated number of customers impacted.
Hawaii Sea Spirits Organic Farm and Distillery, which is located in Kula not far from Hapapa Gulch, still had water service as of Wednesday because it has its own well and reservoir and regularly trucks in potable water, said Brand Experience Manager Becca Taylor.
However, Taylor, an Upper Kula resident herself, said she’d been without water since Sunday night and has been filling up five-gallon jugs with water to use at home.
“It’s been a challenge, and we are doing our best to conserve, and basically just brushing our teeth and drinking water from a jug, and then going to friends’ houses to take baths and shower before heading to work,” Taylor said.
Upcountry residents who have grown accustomed to conserving water under annual drought restrictions are now seeing their water cut off, ironically, because of the rainfall.
“It was scary to see the amount of rainwater coming down the mountain after coming out of such a dry period,” Taylor said. “The juxtaposition with the weather was very startling. It’s been tricky to navigate.”
* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.
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