CARILEC Prepared To Send Crews To Help

October 15, 2014

BELCO said that in advance of Hurricane Gonzalo, personnel have been assigned to, and materials and vehicles have been placed at, the East and West ends as well as at the Central Plant, adding that CARILEC officials are prepared to send crews from Barbados, the British Virgin Islands and Dominica to assist with storm restoration.

A spokesperson said, “BELCO and all Ascendant Group offices – including Bermuda Gas and Air Care — will close early at noon on Thursday, October 16, and will be closed all day on Friday, October 17 due to Hurricane Gonzalo; this is in order to enable staff to complete storm preparations and in the interest of safety.

“Cashiers will not be available to accept payments after noon tomorrow; BELCO customers due to make payments this week will have a grace period next week to receive the early payment discount.

“Tonight, BELCO crews will stand down from Tropical Storm Fay restoration work at approximately 10:30 PM. When restoration work resumes tomorrow morning, it will shift to addressing outages related to safety concerns [such as downed or compromised poles and transformers] and customers with medical requirements.

“BELCO has a ‘priority’ list of these jobs, which it has been working through during the entire four-day restoration period.

“Tomorrow, BELCO will also continue its focus on preparation for Hurricane Gonzalo, which is forecast to reach Bermuda as a Category 3 Hurricane with winds impacting the island for 27 hours. Personnel have been assigned to, and materials and vehicles have been placed at, the East and West Ends of the Island, as well as at the Central Plant.

“Crews will only work to restore power on Thursday night and Friday, if doing so is both safe and practical.

“BELCO is in close communication with CARILEC officials who are prepared to send crews from Barbados, the British Virgin Islands and Dominica to assist with storm restoration.

“CARILEC crews are expected to reach the Island early next week, depending on Hurricane Gonzalo’s impact, as well as the status of L.F. Wade International Airport and the Causeway.

“We will provide updates after BELCO’s morning Incident Command meetings, as well as meetings later in the day, and as necessary during and after the storm.

“We urge everyone in the community to make all necessary preparations, to get updates from the Emergency Measures Organization and Weather.bm, as well as Bermuda Electric Light Company Limited’s Facebook page, and – most of all – to put safety first.”

For all our coverage of Tropical Storm Fay click here, for all our coverage of Hurricane Gonzalo click here, and for our live blog covering both Gonzalo and Fay click here.

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  1. Raw Onion says:

    What!!!! All this extra work out there for Bermudians to do and they want to bring in foreigners?

    I’m just kidding, I welcome the extra help to get Bermuda up and running after times of disasters. Good luck everyone!!!

  2. WinnieDred says:

    So you think Belco can just pick-up people anywhere and assign them to do electricity restoration work, maybe to your house but not mine…. This is specialist sheet music we are talking about…. This is not like raking leaves I suggest you get fried. Got it fried onions,lol…. Be safe everyone and big ups to all the crews out there from Belco to W&E to Parks to Bda Regiment to Police, Fire, EMS, King Edward, Landscapers et al and the general public .

  3. mixitup says:

    Thank you to our Caribbean brothers/sisters.

  4. Conservative says:

    But I thought the UBP didn’t want anything to do with “The Islands to the South”, let me research some of that Hansard to hear then-UBP Ministers and MPs degrading _______ people from the Caribbean.

  5. Family says:

    Thank you BELCO. It’s not easy but rest up, there’s a big job ahead of you. Take care of your families and loved ones and know that the island will be praying for your strength in restoring our beautiful island. You are appreciated, more than you know.