Storm blasts through Oahu

Hawaii residents and emergency officials held their breaths yesterday as strong winds, big waves and rains battered the islands.

From Kauai to the Big Island, the National Weather Service had Hawaii on high alert until today for high winds and surf and until tomorrow for rain.

Oahu lifeguards rescued three swimmers from waves, and a man was injured seriously when winds apparently knocked down a pole.

The weather yesterday prompted shutdowns of neighbor island parks, city ferry service and Honolulu City Lights.

The city set up emergency shelters mostly on Leeward Oahu.

Strong winds contributed to intermittent power outages and traffic signal failures on the Big Island.

There's a high surf advisory for north and west shores through 8 this morning with waves expected to reach 18 to 22 feet on north shores today.

High wind warnings on land are in effect until 6 p.m. today, with small craft advisories in all state waters and gale-force winds (higher than 35 mph) in the waters around Kauai and Oahu.

A flash flood watch is in effect through tomorrow afternoon because of saturated ground from recent rains. More heavy rain is expected, first mixed with the wind through late today. Then from isolated thunderstorms and scattered showers through Friday, said National Weather Service forecaster Ian Morrison.

"We'll have 20 to 30 mph winds through at least 6 p.m." today, Morrison said last night.

At 7 p.m. yesterday, Lihue Airport has sustained winds of 35 mph, with gusts to 50, Morrison said.

"These are damaging strong winds," he added. "Batten down the hatches."

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Yesterday I worked til 645 pm & came home to Hawks trying to keep his party set going at ClockWorks for me. Awwww. Sadly I was very cranky & now I know that the weather here has a lot to do with it. I went to bed just shy of 8 p.m. and awoke to rain slapping against the windows followed by bright bursts of lightning. Apparently we were having a bad storm. I couldn't tell what time it was because as I rolled over to look at the clock, I realized it wasn't on. Sigh, we lost power at God knows whatever time it was.

Anyroo, I managed to go back to sleep but woke again at some time around 630 a.m. this morning. Still no power, still dark & still uber gloomy outside. We managed to find candles, enough to last us til the sun came up anyways.When the sun finally came up - destruction was everywhere outside. I hurried to get dressed & headed outside to see if my car was still here. Yup, it was but trees, powerlines, and debris was everywhere. It was one hell of a storm. Schools were closed, my work called to tell me there would be no need for me to come in and maintenance crews have been working around the clock. Here it is now 240 p.m. and power has just come back on, but we have no internet, cable or phone service. Just awhile ago I was able to use my cell but we all know T-Mobile sucks ass. Even now I keep getting service down messages blipping across my screen. I'm not sure how long power will last as we're expecting another storm to come through this evening. Thank goodness for Tammy, the neighborhood Hero. Heh! Because power was out for over 8 hours, we knew we'd loose everything in our fridge/freezers... so she lit up the charcoal & everyone slapped their food on the BBQ. Our homes here are electric so without power we couldn't cook. She saved us all :p

330 pm & I finally have my internet back. I cannot seem to get my pics from my cell phone to my puter to show ya'll what my 'hood looked like this a.m. But as soon as I do, I'll post em. Anyways keep your fingers crossed that I don't drown tonight as round two of the storm hits. :)