And, those frustrations could grow if the power doesn't come back soon. And that's because the phone service also needs power to operate. Yes they have backups - but as Executive Committee Chairman Anwar Barrow explained today, those are running down fast:..
Anwar Barrow, Chairman - BTL Executive Committee
"Our big concern at this time is power, because we have been operating for almost 24 hours now in several sites that do not have power. This morning we had 7 out of 100 sites down. At 2pm this afternoon we have 11 out of 100 sites down. San Pedro is down in terms of voice, because we have microwave links, those are dishes on the towers that point there that have been misaligned in the storm. We expect by 6pm this evening to have those dishes realign. The riggers are on the towers right now doing that as we speak. For us as I said the biggest concern is power because a lot of the sites are running on generators or batteries and we expect that if power is not restored to many of those sites in the next 3 hours, that we will lose those sites. Particularly the ones on batteries. The main sites will stay up, because they are on generators and we are working around the clock to ensure that they do stay up. That is the current situation and we are working with BEL to ensure that the main nodes stay up and that they factor that into their prioritization schedule and so it's a wait and see game at this point."
BEL sent out a press release this evening saying that it suffered extensive damage to its infrastructure in the Belize District, including San Pedro and Caye Caulker, during the passage of Hurricane Earl.
As of 6:00 p.m. today, power has been restored to the other districts and half of San Pedro and Caulker, with the exception of a few areas. BEL's crews will be working late into the night to restore power to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, downtown Belize City and surrounding areas. WE NOTE THAT downtown Belize City was restored a few minutes ago.
Works will resume at the break of dawn tomorrow in two phases. The first phase is expected to be completed by late afternoon; and the second phase will be completed late into the night. BEL expects that, at the completion of the second phase, 95% of the country will be restored.
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