BELCO Hurricane Ernesto Update
BELCO continues restoration work following Hurricane Ernesto, with the company having restored approximately 20,000 customers in the last 24 hours.
A spokesperson said, “The highest number of customer outages was 28,817 at 12:00pm on Saturday, August 17, 2024. As of 5:00pm, a total of 8,269 customers remain without power. It is important to note that this number may fluctuate as restoration efforts continue.
“BELCO crews have encountered a number of pole fires and this has hampered restoration efforts as these emergencies must be addressed immediately.
“Customers who remain without power are asked not to call BELCO at this time, calls should only be made in case of emergencies such as pole fires. The number to call for emergencies is 955.
“BELCO Crews began restoration work as soon as it was safe to do so once the worst of Hurricane Ernesto had passed and will continue until every customer has had power restored.
“Power is restored according to a specific plan. Main line circuits must be restored first so that branch lines can then be repaired in order for power to be restored to homes. If a customer has lost power, the main and branch lines must be repaired and energised before damage to a specific household can be fixed or else there will be no power feeding into the lines that supply that home.
“Customers can always check on outages and restoration efforts in their area by visiting belco.bm and accessing the outage map. Additionally, customers can follow BELCO on Facebook, X [Formerly Twitter], and Instagram for storm-related updates as well.
BELCO President Wayne Caines said: “Bermuda suffered a direct hit from Hurricane Ernesto as a strong Category 1 storm and thankfully there have been no reported serious injuries. Our Crisis Management Team was stood up prior to the storm’s arrival to coordinate preparations and is now focused on restoration efforts. Safety is always our top priority and I urge residents to allow our crews to carry out their work unimpeded and to keep clear of any damaged BELCO infrastructure.
“Our crews will continue working until every customer has had their power restored. On behalf of all our staff and the people of Bermuda, I thank our hard-working crews for their tireless work and dedication to getting Bermuda back up and running as quickly and safely as possible.”
Click here for all of our coverage of Hurricane Ernesto, and click here for our ongoing live updates on the storm.
What ever happened to the plans to put power lines underground? It seems that would have been a priority since many people have to tolerate the power outages from annual hurricane activity.
Which plan, Kim? The one announced in 1987 in the aftermath of Hurricane Emily or one of the more recently announced plans?
It’s a good question Joe Bloggs. It was asked as a rhetorical question but definitely worth digging around to get a sense of what has been achieved and/or how the plan/idea has changed.
I know it was rhetorical, Kim. But you ask sensible rhetorical questions and I could not resist!