Weather forecast: Stay indoors on Valentine’s Day
A wet and windy Valentine’s Day is forecast as a cold front approaches Hawaii, bringing strong southwest winds and rains.
With wind gusts topping out at about 50 mph, a firefighter was injured, a few roofs on Windward Oahu sustained damage and various wind-swept areas islandwide had power failures Friday.
A wind advisory is expected to remain in effect until 6 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service said.
Fire officials said a 50-year-old firefighter was in serious condition Friday night after being knocked down by the wind while trying to repair the roof of a Kaneohe home.
Hawaiian Electric said the outages occurred in various communities including Maunawili, Kapolei, Makiki, and the Niu Valley, and Hawaii Loa Ridge and usually lasted less than an hour and a half.
Maunawili Estates had at least three outages in a span of less than four hours.
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"So far, we’re responding pretty quickly," said Hawaiian Electric Co. spokeswoman Janet Crawford.
Honolulu fire spokesman Capt. Kevin Mokulehua said he received reports of two blown roofs in Kaneohe — one along Kanaka Street and another at Mahinui Road.
Fire officials also received a report of a downed tree at Mokulele Drive and Kamehameha Highway in Kaneohe.
The National Weather Service said winds coming from the southwest propelled by a cold front were blowing 20 to 30 mph with gusts between 40 to 50 mph.