Puerto Rico power grid snaps, nearly 1 million in the dark

[FarCenter]

SAN JUAN (AFP) -
Puerto Rico's power grid broke down again on Thursday, leaving some 800,000 customers without power, as the US Caribbean possession struggles to recover five months after Hurricane Maria slammed the island.

Justo Gonzalez, head of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), said that one of the island's main transmission lines was out of service. Officials said the line should be fully operational again before Friday.

The government-owned utility has 1.5 customers out of a population of 3.5 million -- not counting the 500,000 Puerto Ricans who left since Maria struck on September 20, 2017.

The head of the utility worker's labor union, Angel Figueroa Jaramillo, said that the blackout affected half of the population that had access to electricity, including customers in the capital San Juan.

Some 400,000 customers -- about 30 percent of the total -- are still waiting for service to be restored since Maria struck Puerto Rico.

http://www.france24.com/en/20180301-puerto-rico-power-grid-snaps-nearly-1-million-dark

[babylonsister]

1. SO SUCKS!!!

[ProudLib72]

2. ....

[BigmanPigman]

3. Is that real?

[irisblue]

4. No it's not real.

[BigmanPigman]

7. Thanks, it is sad when your fake prez

is so crazy that anyone would question something so nuts but unfortunately very possible.

[Takket]

5. Someone needs to tell the 500,000 displaced people

What nice places to live Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are.

[vercetti2021]

6. Send some to Texas too

Flip this red cherry to blueberry. Yeah...that was corny.

[malaise]

8. This is madness

We're three months from the start of this year's hurricane season.