Almost a third of Belco customers remain without power this afternoon in the wake of Hurricane Humberto.

A spokesman for the company said that 11,081 customers — 31.7 per cent of Belco’s customers — remained without power as of 6.30pm, but the company aims to have power fully restored by the end of Monday.

The Belco spokesman said: “As crews continue their work there is a likelihood that customers who have had their power restored may have it turned back off to allow for other circuits to be brought back on to the system safely.

“Belco crews will continue working until midnight with work to resume at 8am. It is anticipated that all customers will have their power restored by end of day on Monday.”

The spokesman reminded customers not to call the company unless there is an emergency, such as a pole fire or downed power line.

And customers should also unplug appliances from wall outlets to protect them from power surges as the restoration work continues.

“Belco recommends installing surge protectors to help safeguard valuable electronic equipment and to plug sensitive equipment into a separate, grounded circuit to isolate them from fluctuations caused when a major appliance, such as a refrigerator, restarts after a power outage,” the spokesman added.

“This is increasingly important as restoration continues, with the likelihood of temporary power cuts throughout the day as more and more areas are brought online.

“Belco also advised customers that overloaded electrical outlets or extension cords pose a serious fire risk. Never overload your electrical outlets. Overloaded outlets are one of the main causes of electrical fires, especially during and after a major storm when systems are more fragile.”