Hawaiian Electric Co. crews restored electricity by 1 p.m. to about 4,300 East Honolulu customers who had been without power since around 8:30 a.m. this morning, a HECO spokesman said.

Homes and businesses from Aina Haina to Waimanalo were affected, including Kalama Valley, the Hawaii Kai Towne Center and areas near Kalani High School.

High winds are blamed for the outage and for the delay in restoring power, HECO said.

Hawaiian Electric Co. crews had to hike in to the inspect transmission lines because the winds were too strong to send up a helicopter, delaying the repairs.