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Nearly 2,000 without power

Belco worker

Belco reports 1,900 remaining customers without power as of 9am today. Crews remain hard at work in several pockets of the Island, particularly the Cedar Hill area.

Work remains to be done in the following areas, and is likely to proceed slowly as “small numbers of customers” will be addressed with each job, a spokeswoman said.

Several teams have been assigned to take care of priority jobs.

• Riddells Bay

• Khyber Pass/Middle Road

• Harrington Hundreds

• Middle Road Warwick — in the Manse Road/Chapel Road vicinity

• North Shore and South Shore, Devonshire

• Portions of Somerset

• Belmont branch lines

Power will be cut for an hour to an hour and a half at about 3.30-4pm in the Cedar Hill area, to allow Belco crews to work on a portion of the system there.

Belco crews will stand down from restoration work at about 10.30pm tonight and resume tomorrow morning. Focus will shift to addressing outages related to safety concerns, such as downed or compromised poles and transformers, and customers with medical requirements.

Belco has a priority list of these jobs, which it has been working through during the four-day restoration period.

The company will continue its focus on preparation for Hurricane Gonzalo, which is forecast to reach Bermuda as a Category 3 hurricane.

Personnel have been assigned to, and materials and vehicles have been placed at, the East and West Ends of the Island, as well as at the Central Plant.

Crews will only work to restore power on Thursday night and Friday if doing so is both safe and practical.

Belco and all Ascendant Group offices — including Bermuda Gas and Air Care — will close at noon tomorrow and will be closed all day on Friday due to Hurricane Gonzalo.

This is to enable staff to complete storm preparations and in the interest of safety.

Cashiers will not be available to accept payments after noon tomorrow — Belco customers due to make payments this week will have a grace period next week to receive the early payment discount.

Belco is in close communication with CARILEC officials who are prepared to send crews from Barbados, the British Virgin Islands and Dominica to assist with storm restoration. CARILEC crews are expected to reach the Island early next week, depending on Hurricane Gonzalo’s impact, as well as the status of LF Wade International Airport and the Causeway.

Belco will offer morning Incident Command meetings, as well as meetings later in the day, and as necessary during and after the storm.

Updates will be provided in this article throughout today.