CRISIS/PUERTO RICO: “An explosion and fire in a power facility in Puerto Rico Sunday [2-11-18] night knocked out power to a densely populated corridor of the island, which is still getting back on its feet from last summer’s devastating hurricanes.
The outage plunged much of the capital San Juan and surrounding neighborhoods into darkness, and served as a reminder of the island territory’s vulnerability to power interruptions. The explosion caused no injuries, officials said. The cause is under investigation. Outages were expected to last a day or so for most affected…
The latest outage occurred after a mechanical failure caused a power switch to explode in a transmission center in the capital city of San Juan, said Prepa spokesman Carlos Monroig.
The explosion and an ensuing fire caused the loss of 400 megawatts of generation, Prepa officials said, or enough to power as many as 400,000 homes.
Blackouts were reported across much of San Juan and its suburbs, including to the home of San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz —who drew national attention when she scolded President Donald Trump for his handling of the disaster relief to her hurricane-stricken city last year.”
-Jim Carlton, “Power Outage Plunges Puerto Rican Capital Back Into Darkness,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 12, 2018 12:34am