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Update: 4:45pm 20 Aug. – Caribbean Utilities Company crews have continued to make progress in restoring power to remaining residents still suffering outages in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Grace’s passage Wednesday.
In its latest update, CUC said at 4:15 pm on Friday 600 customers were without power, down from the 1,131 reported earlier in the day. It is anticipated that power will be restored to these areas Friday night, CUC said.
The company said crews are currently working in the large outage areas of East End and Omega bay in Prospect and are preparing to move into the Beach Bay area.
“Since Wednesday evening, CUC crews and contractors have been working 16-hour shifts in an effort to restore electricity to all customers. There are still some pockets of outages resulting from fallen trees on our poles and other damage and the necessary repairs continue to be carried out,” the CUC statement explained.
CUC urged customers who may be without power after midnight to leave a message on its outage hotline at 945-1282, which is being monitored by its team.
Original story: Up to 1,131 Caribbean Utilities Company customers remained without power in Grand Cayman, CUC confirmed on Friday, adding that they are unlikely to see resumption of service until late into the night.
The main areas still affected are East End, Beach Bay, Omega Drive in Prospect and Garden Retreat.
This comes two days after the passage of Tropical Storm Grace, which was just short of Category 1 hurricane strength when it battered the Cayman Islands on Wednesday. Grace passed 20 miles south of Grand Cayman and 94 miles from Cayman Brac at its closest point of impact and became a Category 1 hurricane after leaving the jurisdiction.
The storm, which packed winds of 60 miles per hour and gusts of 94 mph at its peak, left the entire island in darkness for most of the day and dumped heavy rain island wide.
CUC, in a statement Friday on the progress of the restoration of service, said as of 9:30am the majority of its 31,000 customers had electricity; however, customers in some areas across the island were still without power.
“CUC’s crews have worked into the night to restore the majority of the 2,159 customers who were without power last evening (Thursday). The crews have been working around the clock since Wednesday evening and will continue to do so to ensure that all customers get their power restored,” the statement said.
CUC said it anticipates power will be restored to all customers by midnight Friday. Customers can check restoration times on the CUC outage map.
“The crews will systematically address each of the areas where there is no power and work to complete the remaining repairs throughout the course of today and into the night,” it said.
Added to this, CUC said, it continues to receive calls of isolated outages in homes where there may be a medical concern and it has been responding to those cases as well.
However, the power company warned the public against doing electrical checks by themselves.
“Customers are reminded that if your property requires repairs such as a damaged weather head (where overhead wires enter a building), please contact a licensed electrician. Please do not attempt repairs yourself as such equipment could cause electrocution,” it said.
CUC is urging the public to call their hotline at 945-1282 to report an outage and 911 to report downed power lines or any electrical safety issues.
It added that the public should stay away from downed power lines and to exercise caution while on the roads.
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