More than 200 homes were without water Sunday because of a water main break that closed Lilipuna Road in Kaneohe.

At about 4 p.m. crews were still working to repair the 16-inch main, the Board of Water Supply said.

A water wagon has been positioned at 45-350 Ka Hanahou Circle, and a roving water wagon is also available for the 224 homes affected, the water supply said. Affected customers were asked to call 748-5000, ext. 1, to request the water wagon.

Repair work closed Lilipuna Road between Lilipuna Place and Ka Hanahou Circle. Repairs were expected to continue through today, the board said.

The break was reported at about 6:30 a.m. Sunday.

In a separate incident, crews spent Friday evening and much of Saturday attending to a pair of breaks in a 12-inch water main on Paiwa Street in Waipahu.

The initial break, affecting 19 customers, was reported around 6 p.m. Friday and fixed by about 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

However, during subsequent road restoration work, BWS crews discovered a second leak in the main, which crews fixed by about 9 p.m. Saturday, a board spokesman said. The road reopened at 7 a.m. Sunday.

HAWAII ISLAND

East Hawaii stays in dry spell as west side gets more rain

The weather tables have turned for many Big Island residents.

Normally rainy East Hawaii has been unusually dry, and normally dry West Hawaii in September saw some sorely needed rain, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.

The dry conditions are most pronounced in Laupahoehoe, where the rain gauge posted its lowest September total on record, according to a precipitation summary released last week by the National Weather Service.

Laupahoehoe got less than an inch of rain in September. Normally it gets more than 8.

The earlier record for least September precipitation there was 1.61 inches in 2004.

All of East Hawaii remained below normal, said Kevin Kodama, weather service senior hydrologist.

“The whole Hamakua Coast has been very dry,” he said.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources, on its Hawaii Drought Monitor page, continues to list East Hawaii as “abnormally dry” and the Hamakua Coast as being in “severe drought.”

In 2017, Laupahoehoe so far has received 45.43 inches of rain, 43 percent of its normal 106.45 inches. Papaikou received 88.69 inches in 2017, 59 percent of the 149.97 inches it normally gets by the end of September.

Hilo Airport, for the year, has recorded 57.53 inches, 64 percent of its normal 89.88 inches for the year, according to the weather service.

Across the island, Kona got 6.3 inches so far this year, 77 percent of the normal 13.79 inches. But September was a bright spot for West Hawaii.

The Kona Airport gauge recorded more than double its normal September rainfall: 1.97 inches, compared with the typical 0.84 inch.

That, Kodama said, might have helped Kona have fewer water-shortage problems while two wells were offline.

He said the Kona coffee belt has been looking relatively good for moisture accumulation.

Kodama said it was “an unusual September” for weather on the Big Island and for Hawaii in general.

A weak cold front reached the islands Sept. 6 — the “earliest arrival in at least the last 18 years” of a cold front typically associated with the wet season, he said.