Car smash triggers major power cut
(CNS) Updated: A single vehicle smash in the early hours of Saturday morning on the Linford Pierson Highway cut power across Grand Cayman, from George Town to North Side, when two light poles caught fire. The high speed collision happened at around 1:45am, the police confirmed. The car hit and broke one CUC utility pole in two, which then appears to have hit the second pole, causing transformer explosions. Residents across Grand Cayman were without electricity for around six hours in some parts of the island and the road was closed to traffic as crews replaced the poles. According to the RCIPS report, the unaccompanied 31-year-old male driver was travelling very fast east on the Linford Pierson Highway in a Ford Edge car when he lost control.
The driver ran off the highway near Rankin Drive on the left side and collided with the light pole, breaking it off in two pieces. The pole caught fire and the two explosions followed. RCIPS, Fire Service and CUC personnel attended the scene, where the fire was extinguished.
The driver of the Ford Edge was arrested at the scene on suspicion of DUI and dangerous driving. He was taken to the George Town hospital, where he was examined by a doctor but he was discharged without any serious injuries and placed on police bail. The Ford Edge was said to be extensively damaged as a result of the crash.
Residents across the islands were without power for several hours Saturdaymorning following the crash.
As a result of major electrical storms on Sunday across Grand Cayman, several areas were without power again as a result of strikes on power lines. CUC said it would detail the power outages Monday.
The investigating officer, PC 357 Watts, is appealing to anyone who witnessed the crash to contact him at 949-4222.
Category: Local News
Time and time again cars are hitting CUC poles and people are getting hurt or dying sometimes and last of all our power is consistently disrupted. Couple that with the danger of falling poles, powerlines in storms and the hideous look of the new 'Mega' cement poles set up across the island ….I can't' help but think ~ How did the Governement get persuaded into allowing this antiquated power system to be put back in place following the catastrophic wipeout of a large portion of poles during Hurricane Ivan. I understand the arguement was that it was much more costly, and timely to put an underground system in place, and there was question as to the increased reliability during storms. Poor future planning I'd say. Quick fixes, and quicker returns on investors $ was the priority with CUC back then ( and now) , what a shame the Government fails to notice or care.
Anyone took a look at the photos on Cayman27 ? the Crowd gathered under the broken pole and downed power lines after the accident . Not so smart !
One of the justifications for CUC to raise their prices is often that their shareholders demand more profit. As a small shareholder living here locally for me it is a long term investment and I don't expect to make a million dollars from it overnight. One of the things I'd like to see controlled a bit better are some penalties for lack of performance. If I don't pay my bill on time I will get cut off as a penalty. If CUC doesn't make a profit as a penalty the shareholders get less of a return on their investment. What penalties are in place if CUC doesn't provide a redundant network for providing sustained power? ….and I don't want to hear the professionals chime in here about industry standards and comparisions to other caribbean islands for total uptime across the board. I've heard all of that already and I'm sick of the big corporations getting away with whatever suits them and the consumer having to just live with it. Thebig investors and execs can afford to lose a lot more rather than the little guy on the street having to taking it on the chin day in and day out.
It would have been nice if the police had been present to direct the diverted traffic. It was a nightmare traffic jam of people trying to turn right onto Crewe Road from Agnes Way. How ironic that the RCIPS "Traffic Department" is right there.
EXACTLY!! Why didnt they have someone at the entrance to Linford Pierson there to advise local traffic only! and if you continued you would just have to turn left and go back to Crewe Road by Jose Esso.
What a DAMN JOKE! Saturday traffic that day on Crewe Road was worse than Mon-Fri rush hour. Just goes to show us pure and simple that NO ONE GIVES A DAMN about the public.
SOLAR: CUC should either accept it now with grace by helping to pass the NET bill, or be prepared to go out of business replaced by a smarter, more contributory grid.
You are so right 11:41. Wait a minute .. Sherri Bodden, Alden, PPM? But I remember it being Sherri Bodden, McKeeva, UDP? Oh yea, mi figet they are one and the same! So, yea right!
Ritz Carlton's prices and Days Inn service. Have you been there to pay a bill on your lunch recently?
the story of cayman generally….5 star price for 3 star quality…..
I have not stepped in CUC to pay a bill in EONS since on-line banking was introduced. Saves me HOURS…..
CNS – does CUC/Government charge the cost of the repairs to the driver(s)?
Insurance company should be sent the bill..that is if he had third party liability insurance. If not, he should be taken to curt for that and the cost of the work
Normally the first one to bag CUC but this time I have to say well done. Working all night to make sure we had power back by breakfast time.
It appears as if CUC's ultra expensive power grid that we pay dearly for does not have the level of redundancy required to allow it to deal with a single pole being taken out. I wonder if Government and ERA have asked about this ? Oh wait, Sherri Bodden is back in charge it will all be sorted out soon, right Alden/PPM? yea right! SMDH
Christmas light rig-up
I am sure the redundancy exists. It just required a couple of folks to get out of bed and flip a switch.
Do you expect electric current to somehow move magically through mid air? Of course when one or two poles are taken out, electric current down the line is disrupted.
What redundancy do you expect? Another complete set of power lines running beside the existing ones? Some people just dont think.
I think there is already a redundant system in place, there is a cable installed across to North Sound to Cayman Kai which was supposed to provide a ring system for the whole Island. It should have been possible to isolate the system either side of the fault and feed power from this link to the Eastern districts and power to Georgetown from the South Sound substation. Now there maybe a perfectly valid reason why this could not be done but a response from CUC would be appropriate.
The small man on the job suggested put another set of poles on the opposite side of the road from South Sound Sub to Halifax rd and he was cut down short !! lol So da wah you get with all your eggs in one basket.