Hawai‘i County still dealing with aftermath of Hone with prolonged power outages

With approximately 1,900 Hawaiian Electric customers experiencing prolonged power outages following Hurricane Hone, Hawai‘i County has opened two shelters.

The shelter sites are located at Kea‘au Armory at Shipman Park, located at 16-512 Volcano Rd. in Kea‘au, and Pāhoa Neighborhood Facility at Billy Kenoi District Park, located at 15-2910 Kauhale St. in Pāhoa.

Both sites are pet-friendly and Wi-Fi will be available.

For those who plan to use these shelters, be sure to bring prescriptions and hygiene supplies. Those with children should bring diapers, formula and toys. Bring chargers for electronic devices.

On Monday, power was restored to customers in North Kohala, Volcano and Punalu‘u. Additional personnel from O‘ahu responded to the Big Island to help with restoration efforts. Crews worked in upper and lower Puna, Ahualoa, Honoka‘a and Waimea.

Highway 11 between the Punalu‘u Beach at mile marker 57 and Whittington Beach at mile marker 63, reopened one lane Monday night.

Ka‘ū High and Pāhala Elementary School and Nā‘ālehu Elementary School will resume normal operations today.

Talmadge Magno, administrator of the Hawai’i County Civil Defense Agency, said the county has a preliminary idea of the damage caused by the hurricane, however, they will continue their assessment Tuesday.

During the weather event, Magno said the reports of damage to personal property were minor with a lot of requests for sandbags.

A lot of utility poles were damaged.

Additionally, a brown water advisory has been issued for Kohala to South Point after the heavy rain.

As Tropical Storm Hone moves away from the Hawaiian Islands toward open waters, two other storms are churning toward the state.

Hurricane Gilma is nearing the Central Pacific Basin and is about 1,100 miles east of Hilo. Gilma is still expected to be a hurricane when it reaches the central Pacific basin on Tuesday.

The hurricane was moving west near 12 mph. A slightly faster westward to west-northwestward motion is expected for the next several days.

Maximum sustained winds are near 110 mph with higher gusts. Gradual weakening is forecast to begin soon, with a faster rate of weakening expected later this week.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 15 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 80 miles.

Further out is Tropical Storm Hector moving west near 12 mph from the southern tip of Baja California.

The west-northwestward to west motion at a slightly faster forward speed is expected over the next few days.

Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph with higher gusts. Some slight strengthening is possible during the next day or so followed by gradual weakening. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles from the center.