Most of the island is now without electricity.
Corporate Communication Manager at Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), Winsome Callum, says a total shutdown of the system is now in progress.
"Well right now JPS is in the process of shutting down power to the remaining communities who were still with electricity supply. We started a phased system shut down this afternoon by taking down the eastern and southern parishes which were most badly affected by the strong winds associated with the strong Category 4 Hurricane Dean," said Ms. Callum.
She says it is too early to indicate when power will be restored.
However, she says priority will given to areas where hospitals are located.
The greatest impact of Hurricane Dean on the power system is currently being felt in the parishes of Portland, St Mary, St Thomas, St Andrew and St Catherine. The power outages are primarily the result of broken power lines caused by the Category 4 hurricane winds. Unfortunately, customers who are now affected by power outages are not likely to have their power restored before the hurricane has passed. This is due to the danger posed by the worsening hurricane conditions to JPS crewmembers.
JPS has now activated all its emergency operation centers across the island. The technical teams at these centers are on stand-by to begin damage assessment and initiate restoration procedures, once the hurricane has passed.
All feeds
