Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Showing posts with label puerto rico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label puerto rico. Show all posts

Monday, July 9, 2018

BREAKING: Storm Beryl leaves thousands without power in Puerto Rico


by Renee Celeste and Biodun Iginla, France24, San Juan


    © AFP/File | Workers repair a power line in Ponce, Puerto Rico as Tropical Storm Beryl nears

    SAN JUAN  - 
    Thousands of Puerto Ricans lost power Monday as driving rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl neared the island, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria 10 months ago.
    "The entire government of Puerto Rico is on alert for the passage of Beryl's remnants, and heavy rain is expected in the local area," Ricardo Rossello, governor of the US territory, wrote on Facebook.
    "We ask citizens to be watchful."
    The US National Weather Service issued an alert for flash floods, with as much as 50 mm (two inches) of rain already recorded on the Caribbean island.
    The local Electric Power Authority reported on Facebook that more than 13,000 customers were without service, including those who still do not have power after Hurricane Maria, which struck on its path through the Caribbean last September.
    The official death count from the hurricane is 64, but a study by Harvard University and Puerto Rico's Carlos Albizu University estimated there were as many as 4,645 hurricane-related deaths, many of them attributable to the collapse of the electric power grid.

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    Sunday, February 11, 2018

    Power station blast plunges Puerto Rico into darkness


    by Renee Celeste and Biodun Iginla, France24, San Juan


      © AFP | The blackout comes five months after two hurricanes destroyed Puerto Rico's electricity network

      SAN JUAN - 
      Most of San Juan and a strip of northern Puerto Rico municipalities were plunged into darkness Sunday night after an explosion at a power station, five months after two hurricanes destroyed the island's electricity network.
      The state electric power authority (AEE) said the blast was caused by a broken-down switch in Rio Piedras, resulting in a blackout in central San Juan and Palo Seco in the north.
      "We have personnel working to restore the system as soon as possible," the AEE said.
      San Juan's mayor, Carmen Yulin Cruz, said on Twitter that emergency services and local officials attended the scene in the neighborhood of Monacillos, but no injuries were reported.
      Meanwhile, the Puerto Rican capital's airport said it was maintaining its schedule using emergency generators.
      The blackout comes as nearly 500,000 of AEE's 1.6 million customers remain without power since Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the US territory in September 2017.
      AEE engineer Jorge Bracero warned on Twitter that the outage was "serious," and advised those affected that power would not be restored until Monday.

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