Puerto Rico can’t catch a break right now: Fraught with Zika cases that have stymied its tourism industry this year, it is now in the middle of a power outage that has affected almost the entire island-including 1.5 million utility customers, according to the most recent reports.
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Jenniffer González Colón of the New Progressive Party called for President Barack Obama to declare a state of emergency in Puerto Rico, Telemundo reported.
The government-run power company, Autoridad de Energia Eléctrica, said in a tweet that if things go as planned, about half of its clients should have their power restored by the end of the afternoon.
Puerto Rico is slowly trying to recover its normal daily rhythms after an historic power blackout that left the entire island without electricity, an incident that has highlighted the fragility of certain obsolete infrastructure.
AEMEAD officials say approximately 1.4 million clients are affected.
The island’s top official repeatedly said that the power failure, which left the island practically paralyzed, was due to a problem that could not have been avoided, noting that many people had to wait 48 hours in NY to recover their electric service after a blackout there years ago.
“This is a very serious event”, he said. “Let’s hold someone responsible for this. Blame me. I’ll take the blame”. “What’s another stripe on the tiger?”
They were forced to spend the night in darkness and without air conditioning in the tropical heat. Businesses, universities and government offices closed early, putting even more cars on chaotic roads.
“Puerto Rico is not prepared for something like this”, said 23-year-old Celestino Ayala Santiago, who slept in his auto so he could have some air conditioning to escape the heat.
Traffic lights remained out and police officers stood in the streets directing traffic all day, some in heavy downpours across the island.
El Nuevo Día adds that this is the worst outage in 36 years. “This is an apocalypse”, Jose Tavela said as he ate breakfast at a small cafe in the capital that had a generator.
Authorities expect electric service to be fully restored on Friday. Utility officials have said that the restructuring is necessary for the company to afford maintenance and to upgrade aging equipment.
The governor warned it would be a slow process. “The system is not created to withstand a failure of this magnitude”.
As sunset approached on Thursday, long lines formed at ice plants, supermarkets and gas stations.
“To see everything blacked out, my God”, said Virginia Davila, a nurse’s assistant who lives on the 11th floor of an apartment building in San Juan.
The power company said that it will restore the power as soon as possible. Hundreds of people took to social media to criticize the power utility, many noting that they pay bills on average twice that of the US mainland.
Rolling power outages are expected to continue as repairs occur, FEMA said.
In June, the Supreme Court rejected a proposal that would allow public utilities in Puerto Rico, such as the Electric Power Authority, to restructure their debt.
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Officials had hoped to restore power by Thursday morning to the island of 3.5 million residents, most of whom lost power and don’t have generators. All the consecutive fires have been reportedly put out, no one was injured.
