Officials said gusty trade winds were probably to blame for power outages yesterday that cut off power to more than 7,000 customers in Hawai'i Kai, Waimanalo and Kailua.

The largest outage affected about 6,200 Hawaiian Electric Co. customers in Hawai'i Kai, the Queen's Gate subdivision and portions of Waimanalo, said HECO spokesman Jose Dizon. Residents and businesses there were without power from 11:30 a.m. to 1:27 p.m.

In addition, about 1,000 customers in the Lanikai area of Kailua were left without service from about 5 to 9:17 a.m. after a tree branch fell onto a power line. About 80 HECO customers lost service from 8:55 to 10:17 a.m. in the Portlock area of Hawai'i Kai after a palm frond fell onto a service line.

Dizon said two 46,000-volt main transmission lines that carry electricity over the Ko'olau Range normally serve the Hawai'i Kai area.

One of the lines was knocked out of service about 5:09 a.m., and the load was being carried by the remaining line when it failed at 11:31 a.m.