Congo

A widespread power outage left nearly all of Puerto Rico without electricity early Tuesday as residents prepared to ring in the new year. Over 1.3 million customers were affected with officials warning that full restoration could take up to two days. Utility officials are blaming the outage on a failed underground transmission line. The blackout, which began at dawn, created an unsettling stillness across the island as appliances and air conditioners lost power. For those with access to generators, a mechanical hum soon filled the silence. “It had to be on the 31st of December!” exclaimed one man, who only gave his name as Manuel, as he stood outside a grocery store in the capital of San Juan, grumbling about the outage that coincided with his birthday. “There is no happiness.” Nearly 90% of 1.47 million clients across Puerto Rico were left in the dark, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees electricity transmission and distribution. It estimated that power would be restored in 24 to 48 hours, conditions permitting. Luma said in a statement that it is restoring power “in the quickest and safest way possible.” With no idea when power would return, Puerto Ricans began to...