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Wow, $161 million in profit, it sure pays to be in the electric business.
I agree, the tree situation is way out of control - there needs to be a comprehensive plan to address the problem longer term. I'm sure they've done all the spreadsheets that show letting the trees grow and falling on transmission lines is cheaper than just proactively managing the situation but you'd think some of the regulatory powers that be could force some of the changes.
Actually, giving food, assistance and or appreciation to the utility workers is still the norm on the other parts of the island.
I think the majority of Puna residents would fit that description too. There's something like 40,000 of them now. Unfortunately it only takes a few bad apples...
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The character of Puna has been moving towards un-aloha in the past several decades. It's not everyone there, but the character of the area has been changing with the influx of new attitudes. It might be the newness moving in is swamping the old values, I'm not sure.
I think it's due to the roughness of the area, extreme shortage of normal infrastructure, and the fact that the low land prices and lack of much enforcement of anything at all led to a Wild West atmosphere, where anything went... illegal housing, illegal squatting, illegal drugs, illegal activities, etc. Again, not all Puna residents leaned that way, not by a long shot, but just enough did to keep things rough.
The frustration with the roads in the area, most of which are unpaved, and the single highway access in or out, and heavy traffic, is already at a low boil. Add to that the storm closing most of those roads somewhere, with the falling Albizias taking power lines with them turned up the heat. Then apparently the confrontation began when a couple of hotheads <ahem> expressed their dissatisfaction that crews from HELCO and HECO were assembled, waiting for instructions, rather than just wading into the mess willy-nilly. Another <cough> point of contention was the order in which roads were being cleared ("Do mine first!") as well as <ummmm > some misunderstanding about having to wait for certain wires to be de-energized before work could commence, leading to more delays.
People on edge, driven into survival mode by all the destruction and uncertainty, forgetting their manners and being adversely influenced by the actions of a couple of loose cannons... I don't excuse them, and I certainly wouldn't want to have to tangle with them, but neither do I believe it was any more than a tiny fringe acting up that way.
I don't live in Hawaii yet, hope to move there in 5 or so years, I live in Fort Lauderdale during the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons (Including Katrina). Of the 8 storms that hit south Florida I lost power in 7 of them was out 2-3 weeks at a time. My area I lived in was always delayed a week or so. Power would be on across the street from me, and on the next block over behind. We just had to deal with it. I problem I did notice was Bell South (Telephone service) had only a 1 day backup power supply. I complained to get credit on my phone bill for not having service.
I had a small 1500 watt generator for Katrina, We were able to use the Microwave, Coffee pot, and keep the Fridge going.
My Advice is just do the best you can until they restore power.
Now that damage reports are becoming more complete, experts are saying the financial cost of the destruction was greater than earlier estimates indicated. Big Island agriculture took a huge hit, to papayas, flowers, macadamia nuts, coffee, etc.
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Local economist Paul Brewbaker of TZ Economics said his early ballpark estimate on damage from the tropical storm is between $148 million and $325 million.
One concentrated field of destruction was agriculture. Producers of flowers, macadamia nuts, coffee and papaya were hit hard by the high winds from Iselle.
"It's bad," said Eric Weinert, general manager of Hawaii operations for Calavo Growers Inc., the largest exporter of local papayas to the mainland.
Weinert said half of all the papaya trees in the state probably were felled by the storm, causing close to $55 million in damage that includes lost sales and the cost to replant.
"We're maybe looking at 35,000 trees that were damaged," he said.
....
Weinert, who attended a meeting among Hawaii island agriculture leaders Monday, said flower growers who use shade canopies to protect their fragile crops from being burned by the sun had about 75 acres of shade structures damaged, affecting about half the crop coverings.
The Edmund C. Olson Trust II, a major landowner and farm operator, lost about 2,000 macadamia nut trees and 1,500 coffee trees, according to trust land manager John Cross.
"The storm hit one of Hawaii's most important regions for agriculture," Scott Enright, chairman of the state Board of Agriculture, said in a statement.
Papaya "trees" in Kapoho regrow in just a few months.
They are not trees.
Technically it's not a tree, no, but even agricultural experts commonly call them papaya trees.
Producing trees that have their tops broken off not only lose almost all the fruit that is growing on them, because the green papayas never ripen, but they can take the better part of a year to regrow, reflower, refruit and then ripen for harvest.
Since most of the papayas are grown by small family farmers, the loss of nearly a year's worth of production is a huge loss. Even if it was only 6 months, say, that's still a very large loss for small farmers to be hit with.
This link is for video and photos of the impact of Iselle in Puna. Although from last Wednesday, they communicate better than mere words can just how massive the destruction was.
The #10 still shot shows what a typical avocado orchard looked like afterwards. Can you say "wiped out"?
Some folks tend to get "confrontational" when they're frustrated and no one in charge can provide any definite answers.
My place in Puna is one of the ones that's still without power and it might take HELCO anywhere from a few days to several weeks to restore it. Fortunately, I had the foresight to evacuate to Southern California before Iselle hit, so I can be patient while repairs are being made. If I were on-island with no electricity, no running water, no internet access, and eating nothing but canned goods and instant noodles, I'd probably find HELCO's estimate of "a few days to several weeks" until power is restored to be somewhat unacceptable.
Actually, if you were here and saw the damage the trees have caused, you would understand why HELCO cannot give a better estimate. They have to wait until the other crews remove the downed trees from the roads in the subdivisions. Some of those subdivisions have such narrow unpaved "roads" that the big line trucks cannot get in to repair the lines in the first place.
Nanawale is one such area (although it does have a few wider arterial roads). Over a week later, one still has to serpentine thru some of the smaller roads to avoid giant branches and downed poles. I have no idea how they are going to clean up the tens of thousands of feet of twisted and broken lines that are laying all over. I saw a HELCO estimate that over 200 poles were down in Nanawale alone.
All down Kahakai Blvd in Hawaiian Beaches/Shores, there are handmade signs and banners in people's front yards, thanking the HELCO crews.
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Photos of the destruction
