(ABOVE) Interview with Jason Trimble, Vice President of Honokaa High School, after Iselle hits Hawaii Island.

Video by Visionary Video

HONOKAA, Hawaii – Honoka’a looked like a ghost town Friday morning following the landfall of Hurricane Iselle. Stores were closed and there was hardly anyone on the street.

Visionary Video spoke Jason Trimble, the vice principal of Honokaa High and Intermediate School. The school served as a shelter for the town during the weather event.

The video also shows crews working on downed power poles along Highway 19 at the 38 mile marker (near Kalopa). The road was closed. Police also urged motorists use cautionon Highway 19 between the 32 – 39 mile markers due to branches and other debris on the roadway.

The town was still without power in the early hours. HELCO released a statement about the sitaution.

“One of our top priorities today has been to restore part of the backbone of our transmission system,” said Jay Ignacio, president of Hawaiʻi Electric Light. “As part of that work, we were able to restore the transmission line tie to Hamakua Energy Partners. This was critical to ensuring we have enough power generation. As a result, we no longer need to ask customers to conserve power. We greatly appreciate the help of everyone who responded to the call to conserve.”