Blackout hits Obama Hawaii retreat

Source: Agencies  |   2008-12-29  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

ALMOST all of Oahu, the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands, had electrical power restored on Saturday after a power failure blacked out the island's population of about 900,000 and thousands of holiday visitors, including United States President-elect Barack Obama.

Residents were urged to stay at home after the lights went out during a thunderstorm Friday evening. The Hawaiian Electric Co was investigating the cause.

The utility had restored power to all but a few thousand of its 293,000 customers by early Saturday evening, said company spokesman Darren Pai.

Obama, his wife Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha are staying in a US$9 million, five-bedroom oceanfront home near downtown Honolulu. Power was restored to the neighborhood before 6am on Saturday.

Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann said he did not talk to Obama directly, but conveyed an offer of assistance shortly after the blackout began and was told the president-elect and his family were doing fine.

"He replied he didn't need anything, was grateful for our offer and was going to put his family to bed," Hannemann said.

It was the first time all of Oahu lost power since October 15, 2006, when a 6.7-magnitude earthquake shook the Hawaiian Islands and darkened Oahu for up to two days. Authorities at the time expressed concern that the whole island lost power and the same concerns were being raised on Saturday.

"This is something in Hawaiian Electric's hands," said Hannemann, who governs the entire island. "There are some legitimate questions to be raised. We would like to know how we can ensure this type of thing doesn't happen again."

Honolulu International Airport, handling thousands of tourists during one of its busiest weekends of the year, operated on emergency generators, with flights delayed up to several hours. Some incoming passengers were kept on planes for long periods.

Hospitals only accepted emergencies but managed to stay open, shutting down visiting hours early, Hannemann said. Only sporadic calls came in with minor traffic accidents and people stuck in elevators.

Parking lots at malls were jammed with shoppers trying to get out when stores had to close early on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Hawaiian Electric spokesman Peter Rosegg said the initial power failure hit at 6:45pm on Friday, affecting most of the island. The rest of Oahu lost power two hours later when the last generator failed.