Electricity returns to parts of Hanover and Westmoreland after over three weeks in the dark from Hurricane Melissa

After more than three weeks in the dark, some residents of Hanover and Westmoreland finally got back electricity on Thursday night, following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

Negril, notably along Norman Manley Boulevard, also known as the Beach Road, which comprises several hotels and resorts, is among the areas now with power.

In Hanover, the areas with electricity include Orange Bay, Lucea, Logwood, Rockspring, Santoy, March Town, Green Island, Haughton Court, and Copperwood.

This is the first time since the Category 5 storm tore through the western end of the island, flattening poles, shredding lines, and washing out access roads.

The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) is warning residents to brace for a long road back to full power restoration.

The JPS reports that, as of 8:00 a.m. today, only about 7% of registered customers in Westmoreland and 19% in Hanover have been reconnected.

The slow progress, the utility company explained, is due to the catastrophic damage to the infrastructure that takes power into these parishes.

According to JPS, the restoration plan is currently prioritising critical services such as hospitals, water pumping stations, telecommunications facilities, town centres, and major economic zones.

As those key areas come back on the grid, nearby communities will begin to receive electricity.

Full restoration, JPS stressed, will take months, not weeks.

Melissa’s impact, it says, was unlike anything the company has had to contend with in the west.

The company says entire sections of the transmission and distribution network were destroyed, as poles were snapped from their bases, transformers washed away, and miles of lines ripped down.

“This is not a matter of simply repairing the network and restoring service; it will involve rebuilding entire sections of the grid infrastructure,” the company noted in a statement to The Gleaner.

Despite the scale of destruction, JPS says its teams are pressing ahead, with the company promising to provide updates as restoration work progresses deeper into communities.

For now, the return of electricity, however limited it may be, offers a glimmer of hope for thousands still living without basic comforts, as the west continues its slow recovery from Melissa’s historic blow.

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