--- description: Puerto Rico is slowly recovering from another major blackout caused by a tree falling on a main supply line during a restoration project title: Puerto Rico Recovers From Another Blackout Caused by Tree image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3ceaa4058f61eab/69892d9186f68e08ab6e8dfd/gettyimages-866358444.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Puerto Rico](/tag/puerto-rico/) ## Puerto Rico Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Puerto Rico Is Recovering From Another Blackout Caused by a Fallen Tree by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 13, 2018 6:39 AM CUT  Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) employees fix power lines in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 19, 2017. Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) employees fix power lines in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 19, 2017.Xavier Garcia—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 13, 2018 6:39 AM CUT Puerto Rico is slowly recovering from another [major blackout](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/04/12/another-power-outage-hits-puerto-rico-leaving-about-840000-in-the-dark-officials-say/?noredirect=on&utm%5Fterm=.065f0e277cfe "undefined") caused by a tree falling on a main supply line during a power restoration project. The Washington _Post_ reports that about 840,000 people were initially left without power, citing the island’s Electric Power Authority, which announced the disruption on Twitter. The company has since said most service should be resumed within a few hours. > [](https://twitter.com/AEEONLINE/status/984506943984173056) Crews were reportedly clearing land in Cayey, a town in the island’s southeast, when the tree fell onto a line supplying the capital San Juan and several surrounding communities. The mountainous area was hard-hit by outages caused by [Hurricane Maria](http://time.com/hurricane-maria-destruction-photos/ "undefined") in September of last year. Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory home to more than three million [U.S. citizens](http://time.com/4957011/is-puerto-rico-part-of-us/ "undefined"), suffered the [biggest blackout](http://time.com/5078536/puerto-rico-power-outages/ "undefined") in U.S. history after the devastating hurricane made landfall. The island’s power authority reported in March that about [100,000 people](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/12/us/puerto-rico-power-outage/index.html "undefined") were still without service a full six months after the storm, according to CNN. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5238935/puerto-rico-blackout-cayey-prepa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5238935/puerto-rico-blackout-cayey-prepa/"},"headline":"Puerto Rico Is Recovering From Another Blackout Caused by a Fallen Tree","datePublished":"2018-04-13T06:39:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:57:43.539Z","description":"About 840,000 people were initially left without power","url":"https://time.com/5238935/puerto-rico-blackout-cayey-prepa/","keywords":["Puerto Rico","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3ceaa4058f61eab/69892d9186f68e08ab6e8dfd/gettyimages-866358444.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3ceaa4058f61eab/69892d9186f68e08ab6e8dfd/gettyimages-866358444.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Power Utilities Around The Island As Residents Remain In The Dark","caption":"Power Utilities Around The Island As Residents Remain In The Dark","creditText":"Xavier Garcia—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/puerto-rico/","name":"Puerto Rico"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5238935/puerto-rico-blackout-cayey-prepa/","name":"Puerto Rico Is Recovering From Another Blackout Caused by a Fallen Tree"}}]}] ```