3/13 & 14: Hawaii shuts down as powerful storm pummels islands

[macuu222]

Finally got power back in lower HPP. But when we decided to go to Kaleo's in Orchidland for lunch...the staff were there but they had no power so they couldn't serve us.

[Durian Fiend]

Another Kona storm likely next weekend

[HiloJulie]

...we had a fully charged solar & battery system.  Internet worked, OTA antenna worked.  During the evening we watched KIKU for awhile with our antenna, then switched to the Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka (live!). We had regular updates from the internet about the storm.  

Exactly the same here - but a few months ago, out of curiosity and as recommended right here on PunaWeb, we ordered the StarLink Satellite. We went with the $80.00 a month plan with no upfront equipment charges. And, we did watch our YouTube cable TV last night!

All I can say after this weekend is tomorrow morning, Hawaiian Telcom gets the boot. Other than one less that 2 minute "weather interference" outage last night during the heaviest rain, it has worked flawlessly since the day we got it where  I need all my fingers and 8 toes to count the number of times Hawaiian Telcom went down, at times over several hours, in the same time period since we got the Starlink.

[keaau mary]

Does anyone in HPP have power back. Ours went out  last night at 8pm and as of 10:16 am Sunday we are still out. We are on 5th and Makuu.  Our portable generator was good for lights and tv and Internet but not for the water pump or fridge. I'm dreading about looking inside the fridge.

We got ours back 9:30 this morning, 12th and Kaloli deadend. Fridge wasn't too scary. Still cold! {Never opened it during outage}

[Durian Fiend]

...we had a fully charged solar & battery system.  Internet worked, OTA antenna worked.  During the evening we watched KIKU for awhile with our antenna, then switched to the Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka (live!). We had regular updates from the internet about the storm.  

Exactly the same here - but a few months ago, out of curiosity and as recommended right here on PunaWeb, we ordered the StarLink Satellite. We went with the $80.00 a month plan with no upfront equipment charges. And, we did watch our YouTube cable TV last night!

All I can say after this weekend is tomorrow morning, Hawaiian Telcom gets the boot. Other than one less that 2 minute "weather interference" outage last night during the heaviest rain, it has worked flawlessly since the day we got it where  I need all my fingers and 8 toes to count the number of times Hawaiian Telcom went down, at times over several hours, in the same time period since we got the Starlink.

I'm surprised you went with them, considering their owner.

[Punatang]

^^^ Post of the Day

March the Ides, beware!
Make aloha neighbor checks
This ain't over yet


Veni, vidi, vici
                    - the storm


Post #3 for The Ides of March

[HiloJulie]

I'm surprised you went with them, considering their owner.

Well, being clear, I think the owner of Starlink is *unfit to say due to PunaWeb Moderation* but that does not mean I am calling for the torching of his car brand or a Powerwall or two in protest.

And granted, while he may be a totally gross incompetent leader of a short lived governmental agency, as well as a possible Nazi in disguise, I look at him more as the leader of several companies who more or less has the "concepts of a plan" versus the guys and gals who actually makes everything work, those guys and gals being the normal people who just need a job.

But then, maybe I have a little bit of the politician in me, the kind who is flat out dead set against something, until he (or she) themselves really need it, then its OK?

[ironyak]

HJ - But then, maybe I have a little bit of the politician in me...

Well then maybe you can give the best politician answer to how putting money into the business of a sieg-heiling, white-supremacist-supporting, apartheid-South-Africa-born billionaire, is better for Hawai'i than supporting a local telcom that provides local jobs and community investments? (and has some of the best install folks I've ever worked with - gave enough details on the conduit setup that we could do it ourselves to their required specs, and even did a hands on install so I expanded my CAT cable pulling experience with some insight on installing fiber - very chill professionals)

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

the owner of Starlink

There is competition - - on the horizon.

AST Space Mobile will download 5G data directly to regular phones.  Not sure about home internet. They have satellites in orbit.

Kupier (Amazon), should be up by mid 2026
https://leo.amazon.com/

[ironyak]

HereOnThePrimalEdge - Last night when I saw an estimate of 117,000 customers out of power on Hawaii Island

Most likely that estimate was for the whole state:
https://www.kitv.com/news/local/about-86...d3799.html
"The stormy weather continues to leave about 114,000 HECO customers without power as of 5 p.m, with approximately 67,767 of those being on Oahu. "

It is possible to ride out a major storm with solar and batteries.  If the internet had gone down (as it’s transmitted by wire), we would still have had OTA as long as the Hilo TV transmitters were working, and internet on our phones (with hot spot option) unless the cell towers went down.  Should all of that occur, we would have lights, books, conversation, music, video on DVD, etc.  These power systems work.

That was largely our experience as well, along with similar contingency plans although most of the media is on a backup solid state hard drive these days. Our night did have an extra side adventure of checking on the impacts from several downed trees (have to research and see if ohia's tendency to topple is evolutionary advantageous and part of their life cycle, or just an unintended side-effect of their shallow roots...) Was strange though to see the darkened houses down the street while we were streaming music albums and watching 4k walkthroughs of Japan's neon lit alleys and intersections (Shinjuku wa totemo kirei desu ne? :)