BLP’s crews on the job

Large swathes of the island were plunged into their first night of darkness while Light & Power (BL&P) crews fanned across the island late Friday to assess damage caused by category one hurricane Elsa.

An island-wide plan to restore power was underway with residents in some St Michael, Christ Church and St George communities getting power.

Up to 5 p.m. on Friday, power had been restored to the Hilton Hotel at Needham’s Point, the Jackson area, Warrens, My Lords Hill, and Welches in the parish of St Michael.

Electricity was also back on along the south coast from the Garrison to Rendezvous, Worthing, and from Brittons Hill to Atlantic Shores/ Enterprise, Christ Church; and in Salters, Charles Rowe Bridge, St George.

But as night fell with damage assessments still being conducted it appeared unlikely that further restoration could be possible until Saturday at the earliest.

With the all-clear declared at 4:30 p.m. by the Department of Emergency Management, nearly two hours after the winds and rain had settled, the BL&P was encouraging residents to download its ECI Restore app, which it said has been developed to be used “at a time like this with widespread damage to the electrical infrastructure”.

After downloading the app from the Apple Store or Google Play Store, customers can enter information and share photographs with the company from their location in real time.

The phone’s GPS will select the nearest pole and provide that data to the BL&P along with the footage of downed lines or blown transformers.

Hurricane Elsa has dumped several inches of rain on the island, resulting in flooding in several communities.

The system, which approached the island as a Tropical Storm overnight whipped up hurricane-force winds by 7.30 a.m. which flattened some buildings, left others without roofs, and downed power lines and trees.

Ahead of assessing the damage on Friday evening, Prime Minister Mia Mottley urged residents to remain calm and patient while giving the assurance that the utility companies were doing their best to get services back up within hours.

But she warned that it could take days before full restoration owing to fallen trees, downed power lines in some areas and blocked roadways. (MM)