Residents of Bayville, St Michael and surrounding surrounding areas woke up yesterday to a prolonged power outage that left them unable to perform basic chores.
Businesses in the district were also hamstrung. The district lost power when a truck slammed into the traffic lights system and a pole to which power lines were attached, at the corner of Bay Street and Beckles Road, just before 2 a.m. Electricity was restored at 2:39 p.m.
Police public relations officer Inspector David Welch said Junior Carrington of Arthur’s Land, Tweedside Road, St Michael, lost control of his vehicle and hit the two objects. The utility pole was broken in two and ended up leaning across an unoccupied house at the junction.
The resumption of electricity took longer than expected because members of the Barbados Light & Power Company’s emergency crew had to await the arrival of Barbados Water Authority personnel to fix a burst main pushing water onto the base of the destroyed utility pole. This made it impossible for the crew to plant the new pole.
The accident also caused traffic congestion on Bay Street and Beckles Road.
Householders whose fridges were well stocked with food for Christmas and business operators were worried about the prolonged outage.
“Personally, I’m just worried about food in my fridge,” said Bay Street resident Daryl Manning. Junior Straker, whose minimart is at the corner of Pipers and Gullyfield avenues, resorted to servicing customers from his outer door as inside was too dark. “I hope everything in there [the freezer] stays hard till this power comes back,” he said. (GA)
