Strong Winds Keep
Electric Power Crews
Busy Around the Clock
The Compañía Nacional de
Fuerza y Luz (CNFL) -
power and light company
- had been inundated
with calls to keep
electrical power flowing
to its 500.000
customers, as more tha
400 power failures have
kept crews working
around the clock.
The problem for the
utility has been the
strong winds of the past
couple of days, knocking
down trees and toppling
electrical cable lines,
according to Roy Guzmán,
an engineer with the
deparment of Redes
Eléctricas.
Guzmán said that 23
crews are attempting to
restore service to
normality and will be
working throughout the
weekend on a 24 hour
basis.
In Heredia, the Empresa
de Servicios Públicos de
Heredia S.A. (ESPH) is
experiencing similar
problems. In Cartado,
the Junta Administrativa
del Servicio Eléctrico
de Cartago (Jasec) has
had to add work crews to
attend to all the calls.
The winds have hit 72
Km/h at the Juan
Santamaría (San José)
International airport,
69 Km/h at the Tobias
Bolaños (Pavas) airport
and up to 44 Km/h in
downtown San José,
according to the
Instituto Meteorológico
Nacional (IMN) stations.
The strong gusts of wind
have taken down cables
provoked by falling tree
branches, raised roofs
in some areas, affecting
just about every area in
the country.
The Instituto
Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE) which
covers 75% of Costa Rica
has some 50 crews and
150 technicians working
around the clock to keep
the flow of power going.
The IMN says that the
cold front from North
America is the cause of
the strong cold winds in
Costa Rica and affecting
all of Central America
should start to diminish
by noon today.
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