In a shared statement just after 10 p.m. Monday night, Local time (3 a.m. ET), Hawaiian Electric said crews were still working to restore electrical service to “hundreds of customers” in downtown Honolulu and Chinatown.
However, he said that “due to the persistent heavy rains” electricity would likely not be restored until Tuesday morning at the earliest.
The Honolulu National Weather Service said the Kona Depression continued to “carry the threat of heavy rain to Kauai County and Oahu” overnight Monday and through Tuesday.
While the Weather Service said the “threat of significant flooding” had diminished in parts of the Hawaiian Islands, it said the possibility of “catastrophic flooding” was still a concern, the “threats and impacts” of the storm “concentrating on the western half of the state.”
The weather service said “many landslides” could occur in areas with steep terrain, while “many roads could become impassable due to heavy runoff and flooding.”
He added that the storm could also create “dangerous driving conditions due to near zero visibility”.
In response to the threat of the storm, a number of schools were closed in the Hawaiian archipelago on Monday while Hawaii County Mayor Mitchell Roth declared a state of emergency on Sunday “due to the threat of imminent catastrophe “.
In the midst of Monday’s storm, Honolulu firefighters said they saved five boys, ages 9 to 10, from a raging stream.
Speaking at a press conference, Acting Deputy Fire Chief Sheldon Hao of the Honolulu Fire Department said crews had already responded to dozens of “storm-related events,” including felled trees, electric arcs and roadway obstructions.
