Torrential Rain Triggers Island-Wide Blackout on Spain's La Palma
Electricity had been restored to approximately 75% of affected customers by midmorning, around four and a half hours after the outage started, the national grid operator reported.
The Canary Islands regional government said the power failure began at 6:42 a.m. local time.
The disruption followed a lightning strike at an electrical substation around 4 a.m., which caused a fire and damaged medium- and low-voltage power lines. Although electricity was initially brought back, another malfunction at the Los Guinchos power station subsequently caused the island-wide blackout. Officials had not established the reason behind the plant's disconnection.
Essential facilities, including the island's port, airport, General Hospital and Hospital de Dolores, continued functioning through emergency power systems.
Authorities had issued the highest level of rainfall warning for eastern La Palma at 2 a.m., as severe weather conditions intensified.
Emergency services recorded 62 millimeters (2.4 inches) of rainfall within one hour, while the accumulated amount reached 138 millimeters (5.4 inches) over a 12-hour period.
Fire crews also dealt with a house fire linked to the storm, while landslides occurred in several locations. However, their impact was reportedly less serious than initially expected.
An orange-level warning for heavy rainfall remained active until Tuesday morning.
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