Power outages around the islands remain a focus for residents and work crews this morning.
Hawaiian Electric made headway for Maui County and Oʻahu customers overnight and says 99% of affected customers on Oʻahu and 98% of Maui customers have been restored. As of Wednesday morning, HECO said about 665 customers in Maui County and 2,015 on Oʻahu were without power.
The Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative reports under 100 customers there are without power.
The most severe situation is on Hawaiʻi Island, where Hawaiian Electric reports more than 17,000 customers remain without power. Most of the outages are in the Puna area, North and South Kona, North and South Kohala, Hamakua, North and South Hilo, and Ka‘ū.
HECO hopes to restore power to 95% of customers who lost power by the end of the week, but some areas in the Kaʻū district may be out until Sept. 8, the utility estimated.
Hawaiian Electric also said restoration of electricity will take more time on many parts of the Big Island.
HECO said that by the end of the day Friday, 95% of the power should be back in South Kona, with a similar amount restored by the end of Sunday in North Kona, North Kohala and Puna.
Not surpsingly, the company said the most extensive work remains in Kaʻū, and a lot of that is expected to take nearly three weeks.
HECO says 95% of the power in Kaʻū should be restored by the end of the day on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Hawaiian Electric is also alerting the public that most customers will be able to file a claim for lost refrigerated food due to the outages. It cites tariff rule no. 16, which says the utility is not liable for losses “caused by accident, storm, fire, strikes, riots, war, public safety power shutoff or any cause not within the company’s control through the exercise of reasonable diligence and care.”
Click here for more information on filing a claim with HECO.
