San Juan, Puerto Rico – Crews in Puerto Rico worked tirelessly early Thursday to restore power to the island after a widespread blackout impacted the main international airport, hospitals, and hotels filled with Easter vacationers. The blackout, which began past noon on Wednesday, left 1.4 million customers without electricity and over 400,000 without water. By Thursday morning, more than 742,600 customers, or 51%, had power restored, with 83% of customers having water service again. Officials expected to have 90% of customers back with power within 48 to 72 hours after the outage.

Governor Jenniffer González, who cut short her weeklong vacation and returned to Puerto Rico Wednesday evening, expressed her disappointment at the magnitude of the problem facing the people of Puerto Rico. She mentioned that it would take at least three days to obtain preliminary information on the cause of the blackout. The outage disrupted traffic flow, forced numerous businesses to close, and led to a rush to obtain ice and candles among those unable to afford generators.

This blackout marks the second island-wide power failure in Puerto Rico in less than four months, following a similar incident on New Year’s Eve. Concerns were raised by residents, such as José Luis Richardson, who did not have a generator and resorted to splashing water on himself to keep cool. Calls were renewed for the government to terminate contracts with Luma Energy and Genera PR, which oversee the power distribution and generation systems, respectively. Governor González pledged to address these concerns.

The economic impact of such outages is substantial, with a daily estimated revenue loss of $230 million during a major blackout like the one experienced on Wednesday. Business organizations warned that repeated outages could deter potential investors at a crucial time for Puerto Rico’s economic development. Ramón C. Barquín III, president of the United Retail Center, emphasized the need for concrete measures to strengthen the energy infrastructure and avoid recurring blackouts.

The blackout also raised concerns for vulnerable populations, such as the elderly. Local officials in Canóvanas and Vega Alta took steps to provide support to residents dependent on medical equipment and power. As investigations into the blackout continue, questions were raised about the root cause of the shutdown and the maintenance practices of the power grid. Officials highlighted the need for improved infrastructure to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Puerto Rico has grappled with persistent power outages since Hurricane Maria struck in September 2017, severely damaging the power grid. The ongoing challenges were exacerbated by years of neglect and underinvestment in the energy infrastructure. As the investigation into the blackout unfolds, Puerto Ricans remain vigilant about the reliability of their power supply amidst a backdrop of economic recovery efforts.