Power was gradually being restored to Oahu this morning after most of the island was sunk into darkness for 12 hours or more, apparently due to a lightning storm.
As of 8:40 a.m., Hawaiian Electric Co. officials said about 182,000 out of 295,000 customers were back online as the company brought the island back on methodically to avoid overloading the system.
The blackout thrust Hawaii’s electrical generation problems into the international spotlight as the state’s most famous native son, President-elect Barack Obama, and his family were affected in their Kailua vacation compound. The home had emergency power and Heco officials said they sent a backup generator to the home last night.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann said at about 10:10 p.m. that Honolulu police had talked to Obama. “He said he is fine and he and his family are going to bed,” the mayor said on KSSK.
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