Kauai County Phone Lines Down, Residents Urged to Use Alternatives

Phone lines and voicemails are down across multiple County of Kauaʻi offices, including the Kauaʻi Department of Water, leaving residents without a reliable way to reach government services by phone amid ongoing stormy weather.

The County issued a news release from Līhuʻe on April 25, 2025, under Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami and Managing Director Reiko Matsuyama, describing the problem as "intermittent phone outages." "Due to phone outage issues, various County of Kauaʻi phone lines and voicemails are currently down," the release stated. The County of Kauaʻi's Information Technology Division is actively monitoring the situation and working to restore service, with the county pledging to share updates as more information becomes available.

Residents needing to reach county departments are directed to kauai.gov/government/departments-agencies for contact information and are advised to email agencies directly rather than call. Media inquiries should go to CountyPIO@kauai.gov.

The Kauaʻi Police Department's non-emergency line, 808-241-1711, was at one point unavailable because of the outage. A county press release issued Wednesday morning confirmed the line had been restored. "It had been unavailable because of a phone service outage," the county said, adding that backup numbers remain available if the line cannot be reached. Throughout the incident, 911 emergency service remained fully operational.

The Kauaʻi Department of Water, located at 4398 Pua Loke Street in Līhuʻe, has specific emergency routing in place that residents should use while its main line at (808) 245-5400 may be unreliable. For water emergencies during business hours, call (808) 245-5400 and select option 1. For emergencies on nights, weekends, and holidays, call (808) 241-1711. Residents with water pressure concerns can reach the Department of Water's operations line directly at (808) 245-5444.

The Department of Water also encourages customers to sign up for alerts to receive notifications by phone, SMS, or email in the event of a water emergency or severe weather condition, a step that could prove particularly useful while phone communications remain disrupted.

The exact cause of the outage has not been confirmed by county officials, and no official statement in the available county releases directly attributes the failure to the stormy weather conditions currently affecting the island.