Power cut darkens Obama's vacation island
Last Updated: Saturday, December 27, 2008 | 3:17 PM ET
CBC News
The Hawaiian island of Oahu, where U.S.-president-elect Barack Obama is on holiday, was plunged into darkness because of a power outage Friday night.
A civil defence official said it's possible a lightning strike on a transformer during a thunderstorm was responsible for cutting electricity to 900,000 people around 7 p.m. local time.
By early Saturday, crews had managed to restore electrical service across many parts of Oahu after the island-wide power failure.
Residents had been urged to stay home after the lights went out and to conserve water.
The Hawaiian Electric Company said by 7 a.m. local time Saturday, power had been restored to about half of its customers affected by the outage.
Obama, his wife Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha, are staying in a $9-million US single-storey oceanfront home in Kailua, north of Honolulu, the Hawaiian capital, where the president-elect grew up.
Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann said the rented compound has three generators and that Obama sent a message during the outage indicating he was fine and didn't need anything.
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
Top News Headlines
- Ottawa wins appeal to block RCMP union
- Ontario's Court of Appeal has overturned a 2009 ruling that said it was unconstitutional to prevent members of the RCMP from forming a labour association. more »
- 2,000 jobs cut as GM to close Oshawa plant
- The Canadian Auto Workers union says General Motors is going ahead with plans to close its consolidated plant in Oshawa, Ont. more »
- Diamond Jubilee: Your photos of royal encounters
- The CBC Community team asked you to submit your best photos of the Queen's visits to Canada, or visits by any member of the Royal Family. The result was tremendous! more »
- Flooding closes Toronto subway hub Union station
- The Toronto Transit Commission has closed a portion of the Yonge Street subway line because of what it says is severe flooding at Union station. more »
Latest World News Headlines
- Gaza border clash kills Palestinian militant, Israeli soldier
- A Palestinian militant infiltrated into Israel and set off a shootout that left the infiltrator and one Israeli soldier dead, the military says. more »
- Mistrial declared in John Edwards case
- The campaign fraud trial of disgraced former U.S. senator John Edwards ended on Thursday with an acquittal on one of six counts and a mistrial declared on the remaining charges. more »
- Diamond Jubilee: Your photos of royal encounters
- The CBC Community team asked you to submit your best photos of the Queen's visits to Canada, or visits by any member of the Royal Family. The result was tremendous! more »
- How manhunts work
- A nation-wide manhunt, like the one being undertaken to find suspected killer Luka Rocco Magnotta, is a highly co-ordinated exercise that isn't quite as gritty or dramatic as it may seem in TV police shows. more »
Dispatches »
- Child "bomberitos" on Peru's most dangerous highway May. 31, 2012 3:34 PM The bomberito children of the Andes hitch homemade carts to passing transport trucks -- to aid motorists and victims of disasters in mountains that were once the domain of Peru's Shining Path rebels. They risk their lives for tips that help feed their families.
Connect Newsroom Blog
The Hunt for Magnotta and #bullyPROOF May. 31, 2012 7:32 PM Tonight we'll take you deep inside the dark recesses of the internet for a closer look what's being posted and who watching it.
- Body-parts victim ID'd as Chinese student in Montreal
- Edmonton teacher suspended for giving 0s
- Owner defends 'gore' site connected to Luka Magnotta
- New duty-free limits will challenge Canadian retailers
- Quebec student talks collapse and more protests loom
- Tree faller plunges to death as bucket breaks
- Bear pulls corpse from car near Kamloops
- Copyright board to charge for music at weddings, parades
- Last chance to see Venus transit across sun
