Half of P.R. still in the dark

SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico authorities said Friday that nearly half of all power customers in the U.S. territory still lack electricity more than three months after Hurricane Maria.

The Army Corps of Engineers said it will be May before the island’s entire power grid is restored.

Officials said 55% of the nearly 1.5 million customers have power, marking the first time the government has provided that statistic since the Category 4 storm hit on Sept. 20 with winds of up to 154 mph. Officials had previously reported power generation, which stands at nearly 70% of prestorm levels. Gov. Ricardo Rossello had pledged 95% power generation by Dec. 15.

“The damage was severe,” power company spokesman Geraldo Quinones told The Associated Press. “A lot of work remains.”

One of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities, the central mountain town of Ciales, remains entirely without power, and it’s unclear when some electricity will be restored. Crews this week restored power for the first time to parts of the southeast coastal town of Yabucoa, which received the first hit from Maria.

Fredyson Martinez, vice president of a union that represents workers with Puerto Rico’s power company, told the AP on Friday that a recent study by local engineers found that 90% of industries and 75% of businesses already have power, meaning residential areas are disproportionately in the dark. Martinez said the company should have provided the number of customers without power a while ago.