Restoration crews are working across the island to restore power to residents, Belco said this morning.

Shelly Leman, the managing director, emphasised the importance of people staying off the roads to avoid getting in the way of crews.

She said: “While we have established processes and well-trained teams to manage storm recovery, we want to emphasise that this work requires careful, systematic effort to ensure the safety of Belco crews and customers.”

Ms Leman added: “Our crews began damage assessment at 7am this morning and are focused on restoring power at five substations before proceeding to main lines.

“This methodical approach — substations first, then main lines, followed by branch lines and finally individual homes — is essential for safe and effective restoration.

“As of 8am, we have 18,839 customers experiencing storm-related outages across the island.

“In addition to outages, our teams are also addressing pole fires caused by high salt content in the air from Hurricane Melissa, combined with minimal rainfall to wash it away, adding complexity to restoration efforts.”

Anyone experiencing an outage should unplug all sensitive equipment and electronics to protect them once power is restored.

Belco extended its gratitude for the public’s patience as crews worked to safely and efficiently restore power.

Updates on storm-related outages can be followed through Belco’s website and social-media pages.