Semitruck snags lines, causing downed poles, home damage on Kailua Road

The crash caused a pole to land on the roof of a home. Resident Rheanna Stancil-Williams said she was out to lunch with her family when it happened.
Published: Nov. 12, 2024 at 2:41 PM HST

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Repairs are underway after a semitruck caused a chain-reaction mess along Kailua Road Tuesday.

It happened at around 1 p.m. in the Kailua-bound lanes near Kalanianaole Highway and Adventist Health Castle hospital.

Hawaiian Telcom said the truck pulled down its lines and six poles between Ulukahiki and Uluoa streets. Both Kailua-bound lanes of Kailua Road were closed for several hours.

Overnight lane closures necessary for restoration, repairs

The left lane of Kailua Road going into Kailua town opened at 4:30 p.m. However, Kailua Road between Ulukahiki and Uluoa streets will be closed from around 8 p.m. so crews can work overnight on restoration and repairs.

Service to customers in Kailua, Waimanalo, and Hawaii Kai may be impacted.

The road will be reopened for morning traffic, Hawaiian Telcom says.

‘We’re very fortunate.’ Resident surveys damage to home

The incident caused a pole to land on the roof of Rheanna Stancil-Williams’ home. She said she was out to lunch with her family when it happened.

“We were actually just coming home from Windward Mall, and as we were coming up Kailua Road, we noticed the poles down by the park. And then as we passed, we noticed the pole on our house,” she said.

Stancil-Williams said her roof is now damaged.

“The pole is leaning on our gutter, and you can see it indented into the roof a bit,” she said. “There is a pole that sticks out from the utility pole that actually caught on our wall, so that actually helped with the impact of it completely crashing onto our roof.

“We didn’t experience the impact while being home, so we’re very fortunate,” Stancil-Williams said.

Incident under investigation

The truck belongs to Island Distributing, which is owned by Reyes Beverage Group. It was carrying a Pasha container.

Reyes Beverage Group said in a statement:

“We are aware of an incident that took place earlier today in Oahu involving one of our trucks. We are thankful no one was injured and are working closely with local authorities to investigate the matter. We will take appropriate action based on our findings.”