Hawaii Faces Months of Power Outages After Lala Damages Grid

More than 80,000 homes and businesses remained without power in Hawaii late Monday after Storm Lala caused extensive damage to the state’s electrical grid, with some customers potentially facing months without service.

Assessments have found “major damage to infrastructure in remote areas” on the Big Island and Maui, Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. wrote in a press release on Monday. Crews have started repairing transmission lines, but the utility estimated on Sunday that it could take “weeks or even months” to restore power to some customers.

Crews had repaired three major transmission lines on the Big Island as of early Monday morning, Hawaiian Electric said in the release. The company declined to comment on the number of lines currently out of service.

Some 25 transmission lines were out across the Big Island and O’ahu, the state’s two most populated islands, a spokesperson for Hawaiian Electric told local news outlet Honolulu Civil Beat on Sunday.

The storm also knocked out power at a water treatment plant, causing about 717,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater to be discharged along the Sandy Beach shoreline, according to Hawaii American Water Co. The discharge stopped once power was restored, but the company on Monday warned the public to avoid contact with water in the area until further notice.

The Hawaii Police Department reported Monday that 911 emergency service was not working and directed residents to alternate numbers for police, fire and ambulance services.

Storm Lala dumped extraordinary amounts of rain across parts of Hawaii, damaging power lines, roads and bridges. Laupahoehoe on the Big Island received 43.54 inches from Friday through Sunday morning, while two other locations recorded more than three feet, and many others received at least two feet, according to the US Weather Prediction Center.

Photo: Damage caused by Hurricane Lala in Pahala, Hawaii, on August 16. Photographer: Jill K. Briggs/AFP/Getty Images