HAMAKUA COAST, Hawaii – A power outage affecting about 1,700 Hawaii Electric Light customers along the Hamakua coast is expected to last a few more hours.

HELCO says the outage, that started at 7:17 a.m., left customers from Kolekole Beach Park to Malua Gulch without power Saturday morning, after “a Hawaiian Dredging crane drifted into high voltage lines in Hakalau along the highway.”

Crews are on site and preparing to remove the crane from the lines, HELCO says. The work will require an additional outage to customers and is expected to take three hours.

“We sincerely apologize for the interruptions,” said Rhea Lee-Moku, Hawai‘i Electric Light spokeswoman. “The safety of our community and our employees is our first priority. The extended outage today is necessary to ensure that everyone involved in removing the crane and repairing the lines remains safe.”