BELCO: All Power Restored Following Melissa
BELCO is advising the public that “power has been restored to all customers following Hurricane Melissa.”
A spokesperson said, “Bermuda Electric Light Company Limited [BELCO] today advised residents power has been restored to all customers following Hurricane Melissa.
“The peak number of outages was approximately 19,000 customers on the morning of October 31st following the storm. By 11pm on the same day, approximately 17,200 customers had their power restored.
“The storm caused five downed poles which required extensive work to replace and rebuild. When a pole needs to be replaced, crews must first assess the damage and ensure the area is safe. If power lines are attached, BELCO must confirm that the section of the network is de-energized before work can begin. The damaged pole is then removed and a new pole is set in place, which requires heavy equipment and precise placement.
“All infrastructure such as transformers, crossarms, and conductors must then be reattached and tested. Depending on the complexity, a single pole replacement can take anywhere from 4-8 hours.
“Another factor that caused many outages was excessive vegetation coming into contact with overhead lines. When carrying out repairs in the case of vegetation, BELCO crews often have to spend several hours cutting and clearing the vegetation before they can begin work to restore power.
“There were also a number of pole fires which can cause damage to sections of the impacted pole and associated infrastructure, often requiring support from the Bermuda Fire & Rescue Service. Pole fires occur when there is very little rain in a storm, as was the case with Hurricane Melissa. When the air is heavily laden with salt, and is not washed off by rain, the salt is heated and liquifies which causes electricity to track which can cause a fire.”
BELCO Managing Director Shelly Leman said, “While Hurricane Melissa passed to our northwest, the island did experience hurricane force winds which caused outages across the island. Most customers were restored soon after our crews began work when it had been deemed safe to do so.
“Our crews did experience challenges with several downed poles, pole fires and excessive vegetation in some areas which required our crews to spend time cutting and clearing that vegetation before they could work to restore power.
“I would like to thank our crews for their tireless work and dedication in getting all our customers’ power restored as quickly and safely as possible, and also thank the public for their patience while we carried out restoration work.”
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