Obama vacation island hit by major blackout

Much of the island of Oahu, including Honolulu and the resort where President-elect Barack Obama is vacationing, was hit by a power blackout on Friday, possibly caused by a lightning strike, authorities said.

It was not immediately clear whether Obama's holiday compound had a backup source of electricity.

John Cummings, a civil defense spokesman, said most of the 1,553 sq km island, which is home to around 900,000 people, was affected.

Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann told KSSK radio station it would be at least 12 hours before power was restored.

A state transportation official told local radio planes were still landing at the Honolulu International Airport but takeoffs were suspended.

Residents said this was the largest power outage since an earthquake caused a major blackout in October 2006.

A civil defense official said it was possible a lightning strike on a transformer had caused the outage.

The entire island was affected apart from its west coast.