The passage of Hurricane Ernesto through Puerto Rico has left around half of its customers without electricity and authorities are working on Thursday to try to restore normality, although for example classes will not resume until next Monday.
The storm has caused havoc mainly on the islands in the eastern half of the archipelago and river overflows and landslides have been recorded. Several roads have been closed and some infrastructure has collapsed.
The company Luma Energy has raised to 735,000 the number of subscribers who have been affected by the power cuts, a figure that on Wednesday at the end of the day still exceeded 700,000, according to the Puerto Rican newspaper ‘El Nuevo Día’.
The governor, Pedro Pierluisi, has confirmed in a press conference that they are working to evaluate and repair all the damage and has postponed the return to work of non-essential employees until Friday. US President Joe Biden has signed an emergency declaration in case more resources are needed, as Puerto Rico is a free associated state.
‘Ernesto’ is now advancing towards Bermuda, with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour. According to the National Hurricane Center (CNH) of the United States, the cyclone was just over a thousand kilometers from its next destination early Thursday morning, where the alert has already been declared.
Experts expect Bermuda to begin to notice the effects of the storm as early as Friday, with hurricane conditions the following day.
