Power restored to 75 percent of Puerto Rico

By Senabri Silvestre

SANTO DOMINGO, Dom. Rep.

About 75 percent of Puerto Rico had electricity Friday after spending the two previous nights in darkness following a blackout that affected the entire island, authorities said.

"If no unexpected problems happen, the system will be operating normally on Friday," Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said during a press conference that was interrupted by a loss of electricity.

More than 1 million of 1.5 million customers have been reconnected to the system, according to the head of the government-run Power Electric Authorities.

But public schools remain closed Friday, some traffic lights are still not working and more than 200,000 customers remain without water service.

"Although we have the power back, we are having problems with phone signals -- both to receive calls and to use the Internet -- and the water service is not still constant", Santa Rita resident Rio Piedras Dominga Valdez told Anadolu Agency.

Some supermarkets have been crammed with customers buying non-perishable food, candles, electric generators, and ice to try to salvage food. "These two days have been very difficult, people are getting crazy,” Dominga Valdez added.

To help residents cope with the emergency, government announced that 600,000 families would receive a bonus to its supplemental nutritional program, or PAN. Authorities also extended a previous order to freeze the price of necessities and profits on gasoline.

Puerto Rico went dark late Wednesday following a fire at a power station that knocked out the entire grid that distributes service to the island’s 3.5 million residents.

A state of emergency was declared in order to allow the activation of support from various agencies, including the National Guard and the PAN program.

The island’s worst blackout in 36 years claimed the life of a 48-year-old male who reportedly died after inhaling carbon monoxide from an electric generator. Small fires have been reported by the misuse of candles, according to authorities.