(BIVN) – Water service concerns and power restoration efforts continued Monday evening, following the impacts of Hurricane Lala on Hawaiʻi island over the weekend.
The Department of Water Supply is asking customers to limit water use to essential uses only. “Multiple DWS pumping facilities are operating on emergency generator power,” the department said in a Monday evening news release.
“DWS is working closely with Hawaiian Electric to prioritize the restoration of power to DWS’ facilities,” the department stated. “Until power can be restored and DWS can operate its equipment normally, certain DWS water systems will continue to have no water ort low water pressures.”
The department says it has deployed potable water tankers to the following locations:
- Papaikou: Parking area behind Papaikou Community Center
- Pepeʻekeo: Parking area next to Kulaimano Community Center
- North Kohala: Bottom of Makapala Road
- Naʻalehu: Parking area across from Ace Hardware
Hawaiian Electric provided another power restoration update on Monday evening, saying that – as of 7 p.m. – approximately 38,250 customers are without power on Hawaiʻi island.
Most of the outages are in the Puna area, North and South Kona, North and South Kohala, Hāmākua and South Hilo, the company says.
Hawaiian Electric reports significant progress was made on transmission line repairs that will reconnect power generation to the grid.
“About 25 teams began damage assessments today and will continue working in areas of Kohala, Upper Puna, Honoka‘a and South Kona tomorrow,” the company said, adding that they are focused on “completing damage assessments and so that restoration updates can be provided as soon as possible.”
Line inspections via three helicopters were completed Monday.
Statewide, approximately 88,670 customers were without power as of 6 p.m.
