HONOLULU — Crews were working through the night to restore power to the approximately 600 remaining customers in Chinatown who remained without power, according to a 9:30 p.m. update from Hawaiian Electric Wednesday. A fire damaged underground power cables Monday night, causing the outage.
The utility said that it expects to restore power to all customers by 8 a.m. Thursday, barring any "additional unexpected challenges."
"To restore power, crews need to repair damaged cables and the ducts that carry conduits under the street had melted and fused in the fire, requiring painstaking work to identify, remove and replace the damaged wiring."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
In a news release Wednesday, Hawaiian Electric said that it has more than 50 crew members and technicians working to restore power to the roughly 600 customers who don't have power in the Chinatown area of Honolulu. As the outage that originally affected 3,000 customers stretched into its second day, the utility estimated that it would "likely last until midnight."
For some customers, it was the second power outage in as many weeks. Some restaurants, like The Pig & The Lady, closed down for the day and others, like Black Shamrock Tavern, urged the public to help businesses recover this weekend by patronizing Chinatown businesses, once power is restored.
A 9:30 p.m. update from Hawaiian Electric said crews were able to restore power to roughly 2,400 customers in the Chinatown area by 9:10 p.m. Tuesday.
The company estimates power will be restored to the remaining 600 customers by 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Hawaiian Electric issued an update at 2:30 p.m. that the Chinatown power outage will continue as crews work overnight to repair underground power cables and other equipment damaged by a fire in a manhole Monday night.
The fire burned four underground circuits comprised a total of 12 underground high-voltage cables. It’s in an area below the street between the intersections of King and Bethel streets and King and Alakea streets. That section of cables has been damaged beyond repair and will need to be entirely replaced.
Crews will rotate in shifts so the work can continue. The estimated time for power to be restored is noon Wednesday.
A 6 a.m. Tuesday update from Hawaiian Electric said crews are continuing work to restore power for customers in the Chinatown area and portions of downtown Honolulu who lost service just before 9 p.m. Monday. Roughly 3,000 customers are without power.
The outage is due to a fire that damaged underground cables in several locations, according to a news release.
This outage isn’t as widespread as the one that occurred on June 13 per Hawaiian Electric. Most office buildings, including government buildings and courthouses, have power.
The City and County of Honolulu's Department of Transportation Services sent out a notice just after noon advising motorists to treat intersections with out-of-service signals as all-way stops.
"Scattered intersections across downtown are out of service due to a power outage. Uniformed Honolulu Police Department (HPD) officers will be at major intersections to help direct traffic. Drivers should obey all the rules of the roadway and drive with patience and aloha."
HPD also posted a reminder for motorists to X (formerly Twitter).
Crews hope to restore electricity to most areas by early Tuesday afternoon.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with an estimate from Hawaiian Electric that power will be fully restored by 8 a.m. Thursday. (June 19, 2024)