More power cuts and heavy rain

Joan Torres MORE than 6'000 people in Majorca and Minorca were hit by electricity blackouts yesterday, due to three breakdowns caused by the bad weather. According to Gesa (the gas and electricity board) normal service was resumed in 90 percent of the cases within half an hour, although in the remaining cases three hours passed before power was restored. The first breakdown occurred in Manacor at 5.30am, affecting 2'700 subscribers, who were left in the dark until 8.20am, although 100 or so people did not recover the service until after noon. More than 500 subscribers in Alaior (Minorca) were without power between 9.50am and 10.18am, although a further 215 had to wait another three hours for service to be restored. Manacor was hit by a second breakdown at 6pm, affecting 2'700 subscribers in the industrial estate, although this time, power was restored within 15 minutes to all but 200. Heavy rain was also reported overnight: 72.7 litres per square metre in the Alfabia mountains and 67.7 litres in Bunyola between 7pm on Monday and 7am yesterday. The rain in Palma was 57.7 litres, Establiments recorded 58 litres and Campos 62 litres. In Palma, the Local Police were forced to close the Calle Juan de Saridakis to traffic so that the fire brigade could cut the branches of a cypress which was in danger of falling. The police were alerted at about 3.30pm by neighbours who reported that the tree, more than eight metres high, was in danger of being blown down by the wind. After inspecting the tree, they decided to close the street to traffic and call in the fire brigade, which used a mechanical ladder to reach the top of the tree. They trimmed the branches which had been broken and then cleaned up the road, after which it was reopened to traffic. More heavy rain and lower temperatures are predicted for today, particularly in the eastern half of the Balearics. The weatherman also reported that rainfall in the Balearics between November 24 and 30 was an average of 33.1 litres per square metre, 125 percent more than the same period last year . Average temperatures over the past ten days were between 6 and 12 degrees Centigrade higher than normal, although they were four degrees lower in the North of the Peninsula.