Fallen Tree Branch Culprit of Waihee Power Outage

By Wendy Osher

An early morning power outage in Central Maui is being attributed to a large tree branch that fell onto power lines in Wailuku.

The incident was reported at around 1:17 a.m. and cut off electric power to customers in parts of Wailuku Heights, Wailuku Town, and Waiehu to Kahakuloa.

The incident also resulted in an outage of the Maui Water Department’s Waiehu and Waihee wells, prompting a water conservation advisory for South and Central Maui.

The majority of the 3,760 customers affected, had power restored by 3:25 a.m., said Maui Electric Company (MECO) Spokesperson Kau’i Awai-Dickson.  The remaining customers, including the Water Department, she said, remained without power until the tree branch was removed and repairs were complete at 12:27 p.m.

MECO apologized for the inconvenience and thanked the public and the County of Maui Department of Water Supply for their patience.