Reservoir check, drifting house, power outages among Honolulu storm recovery efforts -

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – As winds died down and rains subsided, Honolulu residents dealt with the aftermath of the powerful storm Saturday, including widespread power outages, closed businesses and disrupted traffic.

Hardware store serves customers in the dark

At City Mill in Hawaii Kai, staff operated on a propane generator and cash-only basis, escorting a steady stream of customers through the darkened store.

“We were just happy that this store was here and helping everybody out — we were just picking up an extension cord so our generator can run upstairs,” said Keola Takayama.

Jeremy Hannon, a Waimanalo homeowner, said he came to the store after his house leaked.

“We have a little home, and it’s flooded upstairs, so we’re buying some things to squeeze things out and reseal up the window so we don’t have another disaster today,” Hannon said.

Dylan Cooke, City Mill Hawaii Kai supervisor, said handling customers in the dark store is part of how staff are trained to stay open during outages.

“All of the staff on hand, we have to be one-on-one with the guests who are walking through the store,” Cooke said.

Outages snarl traffic, close businesses

The power outage closed many businesses, including gas stations and most of the Hawaii Kai Towne Center. Traffic was snarled by inoperable traffic signals and by residents leaving for parts of town that still had power.

Without electricity or cell service, some residents described how they passed the time. Eero Hannon, asked what he was doing for fun, said he was playing “video games that don’t need Wifi.”

Water supply crews inspect Nuuanu reservoir

In Nuuanu, the Board of Water Supply was pumping water from one of the reservoirs closest to residential areas, sending it down Pali Highway, and inspecting the berm of the dam. The stream from the reservoir remained within its banks.

Near a home just below the reservoir, Ryan Ishihara described the overnight storm.

“The rain was kind of heavy, the wind was pretty strong, blowing up against the house, blowing through the louvers, through some of the side doors,” Ishihara said. “The stream was going pretty heavy, was going really, really fast.”

Floating house travels to Kalihi Stream

Along Keehi Lagoon, residents of shacks tucked near the water returned by rafts and small boats. A two-story floating house was also relocated by the storm.

During the storm, which was previously on the south bank of Keehi Stream, and then moved last year to the North bank to avoid authorities, it was apparently washed out of Keehi Stream last night, into the lagoon, and then blown back by wind before grounding in Kalihi Stream.

The fire department was called to rescue anyone inside the structure. When crews reached it, no one was found inside.

Hardware store serves customers in the dark

Outages snarl traffic, close businesses

Water supply crews inspect Nuuanu reservoir

Floating house travels to Kalihi Stream

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