Lisbon, Oct. 9, 2024 (Lusa) - More than 300,000 customers were without power at 09:30 on Wednesday today due to the bad weather that is mainly affecting the north of mainland Portugal due to the passage of Storm Kirk, E-Redes said.

In a statement sent to the Lusa news agency, the EDP group company said that around 05:00 today, the storm's effects began to cause major constraints on the electricity grid, most severely affecting the districts of Viana, Braga, Porto, and Aveiro and having a more moderate impact in the districts of Viseu and Vila Real.

"We're still experiencing a lot of disruption to the electricity grid and at this point we can't predict when it will be fully restored, something we'll monitor and report on throughout the day," the company said, adding that 800 workers were on the ground.

The company says that at 7.30 a.m. around 250,000 customers were without power, at 8.30 a.m. around 400,000 customers and at 9.30 a.m. 314,000 customers.

E-Redes says it activated the Operational Crisis Action Plan at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, activating the operational teams dedicated to the state of alert in force, in close liaison with civil protection and other authorities.

E-Redes is the EDP group company responsible for operating the low, medium, and high-voltage electricity distribution network in mainland Portugal.

Because of the bad weather, especially the strong wind, the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) recorded 1,329 incidents between 6 p.m. on Tuesday and 9 a.m. today, the vast majority of which were tree falls.

"The northern region was the worst affected by the bad weather with 988 incidents, with the highest number of 415 recorded in the Porto Metropolitan Area with many trees falling due to the wind," he said.

According to José Miranda, the bad weather didn't damage homes, but it did damage vehicles. At 10 a.m., it affected the Minho Line in Barcelos, which was interrupted due to falling trees.

DD/ADB // ADB.

Lusa