(BIVN) – Hawaiian Electric reports it made significant progress overnight, restoring power to about 10,750 customers on Hawaiʻi island.
As of 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning, approximately 27,700 customers remain without power. Most of the outages are in the Puna area, North and South Kona, North and South Kohala, Hāmākua and South Hilo, the utility says.
Assessments have found Hurricane Lala did extensive damage to poles on lines serving North and South Kohala.
Access to Upper Puna is being hindered by vegetation in and around Hawaiian Electric lines, the utility says. Tree trimmers have been called in to cut back trees and other vegetation impacted by the storm.
There were 21 transmission or subtransmission lines affected by the storm and 11 of them or 52% have been repaired, the utility says.
Helicopters and drones are still being deployed on Hawaiʻi Island – as well as Oʻahu and Maui – to assist with ongoing damage assessments in remote areas with rugged terrain.
Hawaiian Electric added this statement in its 10 a.m. update:
Hawaiian Electric thanks everyone for their continued patience and acknowledges the challenges of being without power for extended periods. The company is focused on completing damage assessments so that restoration updates can be provided as soon as possible.
Our storm restoration process emphasizes safety and essential community services. Restorations take place in a manner designed to affect areas that serve emergency facilities and the greatest number of customers first. In some cases, we need to address accessibility issues such as downed trees that need to be cut and cleared. Whenever it’s possible to safely do some of these steps in parallel, we will do so. Even if you don’t see us in your neighborhood, rest assured that we are working to restore power as quickly as possible.
