Nov. 25, 2008 – Residents of St. Thomas and St. John lost power Tuesday morning when a boiler tube at the Water and Power Authority's St. Thomas plant blew, causing a small fire in the switch yard.
Hugo Hodge, WAPA's executive director, said the plant shut itself off to protect itself. Hodge said as of noon workers were still trying to get one of these units fired up.
"You need at least one to power the inside of the plant before you can start firing the rest of the units," he said.
Hodge expected power to be restored within the next couple of hours.
As of 4 p.m. Hodge said three feeders had been restored, Nos. 9A, 5A and 8B.
Hodge said employees were working hard to restore all power by dark.
“We’re getting there,” he said.
Meanwhile, AT&T cellular customers on St. Thomas lost service in some areas for about an hour.
LaVerne Terry, commissioner of education, said public schools on both islands were closed at 11 a.m. because of the power outage.
Terry said regular bus transportation was available to students for the morning dismissal.
Schools in the St. Thomas/St. John district are expected to return to normal operating hours tomorrow.