Energy

Entire Island Of Puerto Rico Plunged Into 16th Century Darkness

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Tim Pearce Energy Reporter
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Hurricane Maria completely wiped out Puerto Rico’s energy grid, leaving the entire island without power from utilities, according to CNN.

Puerto Rico’s energy grid was behind on updates and maintenance before the storm hit, so repairing it and bringing back full functionality may take months, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló told CNN on Wednesday night.

“It depends on the damage to the infrastructure,” Rosselló said. “I’m afraid it’s probably going to be severe. If it is … we’re looking at months as opposed to weeks or days.”

Maria hit Puerto Rico Wednesday morning as a Category 4 hurricane, dealing extensive damage to the island’s transmission lines and leaving its telecommunications “collapsed,” ABC News reports.

Officials will get a better sense of the extent of the damage if helicopter inspections of the island take off over the weekend, Puerto Rico emergency management official Abner Gomez Cortes told ABC News.

Puerto Rico’s capital of San Juan suffered its most devastating moment in at least a generation, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz told MSNBC.

“The San Juan that we knew yesterday is no longer there,” Cruz told MSNBC. “We’re looking at 4 to 6 months without electricity.”

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