Lightning Striking Power Poles Causes Puna Outage

Nearly 800 Puna residents lost power this morning when lightning struck two electrical poles in the Nanawale Estates subdivision.

A Hawaii Electric Light Co. spokeswoman said the outage occurred at 5:25 a.m. near the intersection of Forest Road and Kehau Road. It affected 789 HELCO customers from Nanawale to Tangerine Acres and Kaniahiku Houselots, and the area just east of Pahoa High and Elementary School.

Switching of circuits allowed the utility to restore power to 10 of the customers near the Pahoa school at 6:30 a.m.

Crews making temporary repairs had electricity restored to all affected households by 9:53 a.m. Permanent repairs will follow.

The lightning was the result of a quick-moving storm that dumped about two inches of rain in Pahoa overnight.