250 Maui Electric customers remain without power. Officials say those affected live in parts of Olinda, Ulupalakua, Pukalani, Haiku and Makena.
“Safety is our number one priority for our employees and customers,” said Sharon Suzuki, president of Maui Electric. “We understand what a hardship it is for our customers to be without power and we sincerely apologize. Our crews have been working around the clock to safely restore power as quickly as possible to everyone."
Officials say work in Olinda and Ulupalakua is progressing. Debris is being removed and numerous uprooted trees are being cut and cleared so crews can access the downed poles and electrical lines.
Customers in Pukalani possibly face the most trouble as Maui Electric crews say conditions are very hazardous. Currently, crews are unable to safely access the steep terrain where electrical lines and poles went down in the Kaluapulani Gulch Thursday night.
Crews did hike into the gulch Friday and worked to remove trees.
Another outage was reported in the Kaanapali Resort area around 9 p.m. Maui Electric is working to identify the cause and restore electrical service as quickly and safely as possible.
Please report any outages, and/or downed power lines and poles, to our 24-7 Trouble Lines: Maui: 871-7777 and Molokai and Lanai: 1-877-871-8461. Maui Electric crews are prepared to respond to any power outages for the duration of the storm.
In addition, Maui Electric reminds customers to consider the following safety measures during and after a disaster or power outage:
• Stay away from downed power lines. Assume they are energized, or “live,” and dangerous. If you see someone injured after touching a downed power line, call 9-1-1 for help. Warn others to stay clear. Call the Maui Electric Trouble Line at 871-7777 on Maui or 1-877-871-8461 on Moloka‘i and Lana‘i.
• If a power line has fallen on a car that you are in, stay inside the car if possible and wait for help. If you can, try to break contact with the line by driving the car away from it. If you need to get out of the car right away because of some other pending danger like fire, jump out and away from the car so that your body clears the vehicle before touching the ground and try to land with two feet. Shuffle-walk away. Do this to avoid having your body become an electrical path from the car to the ground.
Maui officials say storm-related damage can be reported online. Click here to fill out a damage report.