Puerto Rico cleans up after storm Ernesto knocked out power for 700,000+ customers

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MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Ernesto, now a Category 1 hurricane, is barreling toward Bermuda, expected to pass near or over the island on Saturday. Ernesto sideswiped Puerto Rico yesterday as a tropical storm. Crews there are now working to restore electricity to more than 700,000 homes and businesses. Compared to other storms that have hit the island, Ernesto was relatively minor, but it still managed to wreak havoc, as NPR's Adrian Florido reports from San Juan.

ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: Before it reached Puerto Rico early Wednesday morning, Ernesto took a northward turn, avoiding a direct hit. But the storm's outer bands still managed to dump more than 10 inches of rain on parts of the island.

(SOUNDBITE OF RAINFALL)

FLORIDO: The vast network of rivers and creeks that flow from the central mountains down toward the more populated coasts quickly filled up, and in some cases began to overflow. To avoid disaster, officials scrambled to evacuate several communities along those rivers. The raging waters took out at least one bridge. The storm triggered landslides that blocked rural roads, it toppled trees, and it knocked over plantain crops. And Ernesto's 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts tore off a few tin roofs. But overall, Puerto Rico appeared to have avoided major infrastructure damage. What it did not avoid, to no one's surprise, was a massive power outage. More than 730,000 homes and businesses were left in the dark.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

PEDRO PIERLUISI: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: That's close to 50% of electric customers, Pedro Pierluisi, the island's governor, said at a press briefing. He did not sound shocked - no one in Puerto Rico really was. Everyone expects the island's grid to fail when storms come. It's so fragile that outages are common on sunny days with no rain. But the size of this outage for a relatively minor storm was an indication of just how little progress has been made in strengthening the power system in the seven years since Hurricane Maria leveled the grid.

In the last day or so, people's tempers have begun to flare because LUMA Energy, the private company that took over the grid three years ago, has been unable to say how long people will be without power. Hundreds of thousands are still waiting. This is LUMA's chief executive, Juan Saca.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JUAN SACA: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: Saca said, "as soon as we're able to tell people how long, I will be the first one to deliver that information to all of Puerto Rico." There couldn't be a worse time for people to be without fans and air conditioning. An intense heatwave has descended on Puerto Rico. The National Weather Service warned of dangerously hot and humid conditions. Temperatures are in the 90s, and the heat index is topping 110 degrees. Adrian Florido, NPR News, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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