Strong storm leaves damage on Oahu in its wake
Apr. 20—A powerful storm that battered Oahu on Wednesday left thousands in the dark and a wake of toppled trees, downed power lines and blown roofs.
A powerful storm that battered Oahu on Wednesday left thousands in the dark and a wake of toppled trees, downed power lines and blown roofs.
Ewa Beach resident Renel Ceon said he heard a car alarm go off around 2 a.m., and when he stepped out of his home to check he saw a 30-to 40-foot tree that fell near his residence, blocking the roadway.
Powerful wind uprooted the large tree, its trunk lifting a section of a concrete sidewalk off the ground. The tree crushed a Chevrolet Colorado pickup parked on the street beside the tree and damaged two other parked vehicles on the opposite side of the road. Nearby residents watched city crews equipped with chainsaws cut the fallen tree into sections Wednesday and use a crane to load large pieces onto a truck.
Hawaiian Electric crews were busy responding to multiple outages across the island Wednesday. At 7 :30 a.m. approximately 11, 000 customers were without power. Farrington High School, Kalihi Kai Elementary, Kalihi Uka Elementary, Kalihi Elementary, Maemae Elementary, Nuuanu Elementary and Puuhale Elementary closed Wednesday due to the outage.
A cold front brought heavy rain and strong wind late Tuesday through early Wednesday, resulting in numerous assistance calls for the Honolulu Fire Department. The blustery weather also caused flooding to some thoroughfares on the neighbor islands, prompting temporary road closures.
Fallen trees resulted in temporary closures of Likelike Highway in the Honolulu-bound direction before the H-3 overpass and the townbound lanes of the Pali Highway.
Wind ripped off the entire corrugated roof of Waima nalo Country Farms' main food, lemonade and country market structure. It also destroyed the farm's greenhouse and pulled all of the drip tape out of the ground in the field.
Cheyenne Adams of the family-operated farm said they get strong wind once in awhile but never gusts that blew the roof off their structure, where they sell lemonade and fresh produce during events.
Waimanalo Country Farms still aims to hold its popular spring harvest event in mid-May, if repairs to storm-related damage are complete.
"We're just trying to figure things out right now, " Adams said. She said people may follow their Instagram page, @waimanalocountryfarms, to stay updated on the upcoming event.
On Hawaii island, flooding from heavy rainfall temporarily closed Highway 11 between Pahala and Naa lehu in Kau. Piilani Highway on Maui between mile markers 29 and 31 became impassable shortly before noon Wednesday due to floodwaters.
The National Weather Serv ice said east to southeasterly winds are expected to develop across the state Friday and Saturday with isolated and scattered showers forecast into early next week as another cold front approaches the islands.
