Fallen Tree Causes Widespread Power Outage
***Updated at 4 p.m. with additional details.***
A tree that fell on a power line along the Hamakua coast this morning cut power to well over 10,000 Hawaii Electric Light Co. customers.
HELCO spokesman Roger Keller said the outage that occurred at about 11:20 a.m. affected 13,494 Big Island homes and businesses.
He said it took more than an hour to find the cause of the problem, a fallen tree on the Waimea side of Laupahoehoe Gulch.
Meanwhile the utility’s technicians switched various circuits — a process known as “load shedding” — to isolate the problem and restored power to more than 12,000 customers within six minutes, Keller said.
He said the remaining customers had power restored by 1:53 p.m.