SAO PAULO: Hundreds of thousands of residents of Sao Paulo are still without electricity, three days after a storm hit Brazil’s largest city, Western media reported on Monday.
The storm snapped branches and rooted out hundreds of trees that fell on electricity cables in many streets of the city, cutting off 2.1 million customers from energy distribution company ENEL.
Carpenter Denilson Laurindo complained that he had no electricity, no cellphone and no fuel. He added the ENEL vowed to restore power supplies by Tuesday.
Thiago Gonzalez, an electrical engineer said that had to rent a room in a nearby neighborhood as there was no electricity in his area.
He said he saw the tree fall and hit the transformer causing an explosion with cutting off lights.
Schools have canceled classes on Monday in the worst-hit neighborhoods of the city, such as Morumbi.
ENEL claims to restore its service to 76% of customers
ENEL claimed to restore its service to 76% of its customers but 500,000 are still without electricity on Monday.
The company, the second largest energy distributor in Brazil and owned by Italy’s energy group ENEL (ENEI.MI), said the strong winds that hit Sao Paulo on Friday caused severe damage to the power grid because of the falling trees.
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Brazil’s Justice Minister Flavio Dino said the government will be seeking an explanation from the company for the blackout.
Alexandre Vieira Monteiro, a condominium administrator, said that power supplies have been restored to many areas but some are still without electricity in Morumbi.
He said it was an unusual strong storm abut it is shocking is that there is not enough investment in burying the power cables which are all out of date.
