Local electricity distributor Jamaica Public Service Limited has restored supply to most customers who experienced outages on Tuesday due to Tropical Storm Rafael.

The company is attempting to expedite the restoration of supply to customers who are still without service.

In a release, the company shared that only 5 per cent of its 692,000 customers lost power due to the adverse weather conditions associated with the tropical storm.

“The largest number of customers without electricity at any point during the storm was 30,000. As at 3 o’clock this afternoon (November 5), we had brought that number down to 10,000 – that’s less than two percent of our overall customer base,” JPS President & CEO Hugh Grant explained.

Grant said despite ongoing challenges with persistent heavy rains and strong winds in some parishes, JPS teams were still working to get supply back to customers, where it was safe to do so.

“We understand the great inconvenience being experienced by our customers who are still without electricity. I would like to assure these customers that our teams will not stop until every customer is restored as safely and as quickly as possible,” he expressed.

The JPS CEO indicated that it is still too early to determine the full impact of the tropical storm on the electricity network as the company was still carrying out assessment. As such he urged affected customers to take into consideration that some parishes were experiencing heavy rains from the outer bands of the system, even as the storm moved away from the island.

“More customers may lose supply as a result of the residual effects of the weather system, but our teams are ready to respond, as long as it is safe for them to work. We expect that by tomorrow, when the weather improves across all parishes, we will be able to give a broad projection of when we will be able to complete the restoration of service to all our customers,” he advised.