Bahamas Power and Light Company Ltd. (BPL) advises its customers that as a result of the passage of Hurricane Irma, a number of areas on our network have been impacted resulting in the disruption of electricity supplies.
All customers are reminded to remain clear of downed lines as these may pose a significant safety hazard, even if they appear to be de-energized. Several areas were impacted over the course of last evening, but for safety reasons, we were unable to address all of the areas before ceasing work due to inclement weather.
Teams responded early this morning and have been assigned to address the needed repairs and to restore all supplies that are offline.
Damage to the transmission and distribution systems in New Providence are mostly limited to downed power lines, damaged insulators and these may impact small areas and individual consumers. Crews are currently working to restore power in Stevenson and Twynam Subdivision, Shirlea, Bay Lily (Sea Breeze), Kiki Street off Farrington Road, Carmichael Road (Ferguson Subdivision and Palm Breeze), Bacardi Road, Coral Harbor, Danottage, Fire Trail West, San Souci and Ridgeway Drive.
Regarding the Family Islands, supply has been fully restored on Bimini, The Berry Islands and Rum Cay.
Assessment and repair teams in the various islands commenced work this morning to restore supplies where possible and commence repairs as needed. In Abaco, supply was shut-down in Marsh Harbour, Central Pines, Pelican Shores, Eastern Shores and The Cays between 9:00 am and 12 noon to replace a damaged cut-out. A controlled shutdown on Grand Cay and Walkers Cay was conducted in advance of the storm. Supply is expected to be restored in those areas by this evening.
On Acklins Island, initial assessment teams have reported downed power lines, poles and conductors in Delectable Bay South, Spring Point, Snug Corner, Masons Bay and Lovely Bay. Presently, road damage and flooding in Salina Point has prevented BPL from conducting an assessment to that area.
On Andros, teams reported damage to poles in South Andros as well as downed power lines in Mangrove Cay. These repairs are estimated to be completed within 48 hours. Only one downed pole has been reported in Central Andros and there were no reported damages in North Andros. Repairs in North and Central Andros will be completed by the end of today.
On Cat Island, crews are presently working to restore supply to Devils Point, McQueens and Hawknest. All other areas are on full supply according to the initial assessments.
On Crooked Island a number of downed high voltage lines were reported. Our local repair teams are working to complete the restoration of Crooked Island by the end of the evening.
On Eleuthera, supplies have been fully restored to Harbour Island, North and South Eleuthera. Repair teams are working in Central Eleuthera in the Savanna Sound area. It is estimated that this work will be completed before the end of the afternoon.
On Mainland Exuma, assessment teams commenced work at 6 am, and have already completed restoration east of the power station into Georgetown. Teams are presently working east of Georgetown to Rolle Town and expect services to be restored by mid-afternoon. Additional crews are working west of the power station and have estimated that supply will be restored by this evening. Reports also indicated that Black Point has been restored but that there is line damage in Staniel Cay. Teams are working to address these lines and services will be restored by early afternoon.
On Long Island, work between Millers and Stella Maris has been completed and the area restored.
Work continues further north of Stella Maris to Seymour's. This area will be returned to service this afternoon.
Teams are also working south of Millers to Salt Pond. This area will be returned to service early in the afternoon with subsequent repairs between Salt Pond and Deadman's Cay to follow. This part of Long Island will be completed and returned to service this evening.
Initial assessments from Mayaguana indicated that there are no damaged poles on the island but that there are a number of downed high and low voltage lines and services. A team will be heading to the island, to assist with repairs as soon as it is practicable.
Similarly, initial reports from Inagua suggests damage to the distribution network in the form of poles (~20) and lines impacted. BPL is presently preparing response teams and materials to be sent to Inagua to address any concerns and restore the supplies.
BPL anticipates that once repairs are complete, its services should return to normal and advises customers who may experience a loss of power to contact BPL's emergency number at 302-1800.
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