Kaʻū News Briefs Feb.3, 2024

    Upcoming deadlines: February 7 = House Triple Referral filing; February 8 = Senate Triple Referral filing, February 15 = First Lateral filing; March 1 = First Decking.

PAR staffers: Virginia Beck, Andy Eckhardt, Keanu Young and Courtney Mrowczynski, Photo from PAR

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A COMMUNITY ACCESS PRENATAL CLINIC IS OFFERED fourth Sunday of every month. Noone is turned away for lack of funds, but all insurance is accepted. Location is 94-2166 South Point Rd. at the Old Kalae Coffee. Phone (808)450-0498. Upcoming dates are 2/25, 3/24, 4/28, 5/26 and 6/23.

FEWER EARTHQUAKES WERE HAPPENING BETWEN VOLCANO AND PĀHALA  on late Friday and Saturday. Kīlauea volcano was not erupting and seismicity in the summit and along the Koa‘e fault system southwest of the summit decreased significantly.

    USGS reported that "more than 3,000 earthquakes were recorded over the past week during this event, which coincided with ground deformation patterns indicative of magma moving from beneath the summit to the southwest under the Koa‘e fault system."
    However, USGS also reported: "The intrusion of magma into this area appears to have slowed, and the likelihood of an eruption has decreased. A VAN/VONA was issued earlier this morning, lowering the Alert level from Orange/Watch to Yellow/Advisory. "

    There were less than 150 earthquakes on Saturday, with about 650 on Friday and 750 on Thursday in the summit and Southwest Rift Zone areas, including the Kaʻū Desert.

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KEEP A BACKUP WATER SUPPLY AND CONSERVE WATER when heavy rains that could interrupt electrical power are predicted. That's the message from the county Department of Water Supply this weekend, which sent out an explanation.
    The Department of Water Supply requires a significant amount of dependable electricity to move approximately 25 million gallons of water each day and deliver it to more than 45,000 homes, businesses, farms, and community facilities located throughout much of Hawai‘i Island.
    Hawaiian Electric issued a statement leading up to this weekend, urging customers to prepare for heavy rains and winds that were expected to impact Hawai‘i Island through the weekend. “During severe weather, strong winds can blow trees or debris into power lines, causing outages and damaging electrical equipment. Falling trees can hit utility poles or overhead lines, knocking lines down or causing poles to lean, which may result in outages. Heavy rains can also lead to flooding of underground cables or other equipment,” Hawaiian Electric said in the statement. Outages in areas designated by the State as at-risk for fires may experience longer outages due to the possible need to conduct visual or aerial inspections before power may be safely restored, it added.
    Department of Water Supply operates backup generators at key well sites to help maintain a limited amount of water service during temporary power outages. "However, an extended power outage could leave portions of DWS’ water systems empty and customers with no water," reports DWA. "Should this scenario be anticipated, DWS will instruct its affected customers to use their tap water only for drinking, cooking, and hygiene purposes to preserve the limited amount of available potable water. Irrigation, car washing, and non-essential uses of water would be suspended until power is restored."
   DWS stated that it "strongly urges its customers and those who depend on a continuous supply of DWS water to review their personal situations and prepare accordingly. Customers should have alternate sources of potable water and enough supply to meet their essential needs during a prolonged power outage that disrupts DWS service. Ways to safely store drinking water are listed in the Water Emergency Preparedness guide available under the Community drop-down menu option on the Department’s website, hawaiidws.org.
    Updated messaging will be posted at hawaiidws.org and on the DWS Facebook page at facebook.com/HawaiiDWS. To reach the DWS, please call (808) 961-8050 during normal business hours, (808) 961-8790 for after-hour emergencies, or email: dws@hawaiidws.org.

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