The holiday island of Hydra in the Saronic Gulf was declared in ‘state of emergency’ at 3 o’ clock on Monday morning, that is 24 hours after the black out, after the grid operator was not able to restore power and consequently the water supply.
A power outage occurred at 5:30 on Sunday morning (August 26 2018) and the island remain without electricity still at 10 a.m. Monday.
Vessels of the Greek Navy were to trasnfer water and power generators to the island, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos tweeted late on Sunday.
The black out immense problems on the island which is a popular destination for weekend visitors and foreign tourists.
Grid operator DEDDIE offered apologies and said technical teams were continuing efforts to restore power on the island.
“DEDDIE has carried out an inspection of the network from the Kranidi sub-station to Thermisia and the underwater cables to the island, while crews have checked the Hydra power network in spite of difficulties presented by the ban on vehicle use on the island,” the grid operator said in a statement on Sunday.
“Measures have also been taken to provide a temporary power supply to the island in case the damage should take a long time to repair.”
As cars are banned from Hydra the technical teams reportedly check column by column in order to locate the problem.
Mayor Giorgos Koukoudakis said that the Navy generators arrived on the island at 3 o’ clock Monday morning and were expected to go in operation as of 10 a.m.
Normality will return to Hydra when the generators start operation, the mayor told private Skai TV.
He dismissed media claims that there were “incidents and brawls” on Sunday evening when allegedly tourists and visitors wanted to leave the island but they could not because the ferries and the ships were fully booked.
The Maritime Ministry also dismissed posts on social media according to which the sea traffic was disrupted due to the black out.
“Only travel agencies had problems as they could not issue tickets due to the power outrage,” the ministry said adding that authorities on Hydra did not ask for extra ships.
“No passenger who wanted to leave did not manage to do so,” the ministry said.
Mayor Koukoudakis said that he will file a lawsuit against DEDDIE.
The grid operator is supposed to send two big generators to Hydra and provide the island with power as of Monday afternoon.
The water tanker of the Navy is expected to arrive at Hydra soon.
Monday noon DEDDIE announced that underwater cables are due to the island within the next hours.
The problem is expected to have been solved by the early afternoon.
Local authorities urge residents, visitors and business people to show patience.
A difficult task when one considers that restaurants, ATMs and refrigerators are ‘out of order’….
