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Massive power outage on Oahu
HONOLULU (KHNL) - An islandwide power outage has hit the island of Oahu. A spokesperson for Hawaiian Electric Company along with Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann have reported that the electricity will be out for most of the island of Oahu for at least twelve hours.
At 6:30 p.m. Friday night an electrical storm caused an interuption in power which shut down all but one of HECO's power generating stations. Early reports indicated that Makakilo and Nanakuli were spared from the blackout but HECO now reports that all stations are now offline.
Early reports indicated that many people were stranded in elevators in Waikiki.
Police are asking residents to use 911 service for emergencies only. Avoid travel but if you must drive treat all intersections as a four way stop.
Water supply officials urge all residents to conserve water.
Hospitals are operating under emergency power.
Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany
Devany Vickery-Davidson
East Bay Potters
www.eastbaypotters.com
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Oh! for a roundabout on a night like this!
"Traffic lights ceased operating; cars were jammed at intersections..."
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/...ml?cnn=yes
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park
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Actually, I was in New Zealand a couple years ago during a typhoon and the roundabouts are completely un-drivable in the rain like we've seen. They get full of water and the "round about driving" simply buries everyone's windshields entering the roundabout and it becomes a terrible parking lot, as one could imagine if one thinks about it.
It's worth a thought, an obvious, but not so immediately obvious characteristic.
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It's obvious the Kiwis constructed a northern hemisphere roundabout in the southern hemisphere. It couldn't possibly be expected to work when filled with water. (corrialis effect)
*disclaimer- This is a joke. Those not ammused are advised not to laugh.
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If they had done the right thing and built roundabouts near all the power stations, then the rain and lightning would have known to go around them...
There is also the effect on world peace and world hunger.......[
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They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security
Benjamin Franklin
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I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
The Wilder Side Of Hawaii
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I got some land in Kalapana to sell you..... J/K !
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quote:
Originally posted by JWFITZ
Actually, I was in New Zealand a couple years ago during a typhoon and the roundabouts are completely un-drivable in the rain like we've seen. They get full of water and the "round about driving" simply buries everyone's windshields entering the roundabout and it becomes a terrible parking lot, as one could imagine if one thinks about it.
It's worth a thought, an obvious, but not so immediately obvious characteristic.
We drove roundabouts in Australia for 8 years -- wet weather and dry -- and I have never seen this effect.
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park
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Well, to be fair an inch an hour doesn't happen everywhere, or all the time, and one can expect things not to work when one gets those kinds of conditions.
The other times the roundabouts didn't work was after the bars closed. Which was about 7 am on Sunday morning only. Otherwise they worked.
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We were there. We were just exiting our taxi at the Blaisdell Concert Hall....anticipating Howie Mandel's stand up comedy show that we had bought tickets for three months ago and which was our sole reason for this trip. Suddenly the city went dark on us. The cab driver had heard on his radio that it was island wide. We decided to let the cab go and wait outside the venue to see if the lights came back on and if the show would go on. The TV cameras from the local news stations were all of a sudden filming. But, at about 7:10pm (for a 7:30pm show) one of the theater employees came out and made the announcement on the front steps that the show was cancelled. (Really hope we can get our $$ back.)
At that point we saw a bus approaching the front of the hall...so we ran for it and jumped on. We had no idea how much the bus would cost, or where it was going...or where we had to get off. Of course, we did not have the correct change ($2.00 each) and the driver was getting a little impatient with our questions. At that point, a very nice young man paid our fares....we tried to give him some cash...but he would not hear of it. The aloha spirit kicked in big time here.
Traffic was a nightmare....no street lights were working. On some corners you could see the blue lights flashing where the police cars were helping at the intersections. But, mostly it was a free for all. Funny thing was that we did not experience a single drop of rain all evening. Just a bit of lightening.
The problem on the bus was that it was all SO dark outside, that no one knew where their stops were or where to get off. Even the local Oahu riders were unsure. It became a total group effort to figure out where everyone wanted to get off.
Once we were off the bus in the area of our hotel, it was eerie to see everyone walking around with their cell phones with that little blue glow coming from the display. Also, all of the hotels were giving out light or glow sticks....Waikiki looked very different. It was hard to cross the streets.....no street lights working. And, since this outage happened before 7pm, almost everyone had not eaten dinner yet. We all went to bed hungry last night!! Couldn't even get a beer. Of course, even the ABC stores had to close!! Probably going to be a baby boom on Oahu nine months from now. This morning once the power returned, every restaurant that was serving breakfast had lines out the door and around the block. Folks were hungry.
This was not the fun trip we had hoped for....but it was definitely an experience to remember.
