Large power outage hits Puerto Rico's capital, nearby areas

April 12, 2018

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hundreds of thousands of people across Puerto Rico were left without power on Thursday after another widespread outage, forcing the island’s main public hospital and international airport to switch to backup generators as the U.S. territory struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria. The island’s Electric Power Authority said a tree fell on the main line that supplies power to the capital of San Juan and surrounding areas from the north coast to the southeast.

The tree fell as crews cleared land in the southeast mountain town of Cayey as part of power restoration efforts. Officials estimated it could take eight to 16 hours for power to return.

CBS News correspondent David Begnaud, who covered the devastation on the island extensively after the storm, reports that 840,000 customers lost power.

BREAKING: this is the tree that fell, according to the Puerto Rico Power Authority, cutting power to 840,000 customers in Puerto Rico. It could take 7 to 11 hours to fully restore service. pic.twitter.com/Rbme4AFjXi

— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) April 12, 2018

The announcement sparked outrage across social media from people who said they are fed up with ongoing outages and demanded a permanent fix to that line, which has failed several times in recent months.

Fredyson Martinez, vice president of a union that represents power company workers, said in a phone interview that another line the company was trying to use to help back up the main line also failed on Thursday for unknown reasons.

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A boy walks near houses with plastic sheets replacing roofs hit by Hurricane Maria in September, in a neighborhood in Canovanas, Puerto Rico, April 10, 2018.

Reuters/Alvin Baez

Puerto Rico is still relying on nearly 900 of the more than 2,000 temporary generators installed by federal agencies after the storm. Backup generators at the island’s main public hospital and international airport kicked in following Thursday’s outage.

Shortly after 3 p.m., San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz said on Twitter that electricity had been restored at the hospital.

Electricity back at Municipal Hospital in Centro Médico, parts of Santurce and Cupey in San Juan.

— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) April 12, 2018

Across the island, more than 50,000 customers remain in the dark since the Category 4 storm struck on Sept. 20 and destroyed up to 75 percent of distribution lines.

Federal officials said Wednesday they expect to have a plan to strengthen and stabilize the power grid by June for an initial estimated cost of $17.6 billion.