All schools and government offices are closed territory-wide Thursday for all non-essential employees amid heavy rains, the risk of flash flooding and a district-wide power outage on St. Thomas and St. John, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. announced just after 8:30 a.m.
The V.I. Water and Power Authority reported just after 8 a.m. that plant personnel were working to restore power after a loss of generation at the Randolph Harley Power Plant. The estimated restoration time was one hour, it said. Several feeders on St. Croix were also experiencing interruptions. The blackouts follow numerous outages Wednesday.
The National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico, reported Thursday morning that a tropical wave will continue to move across and away from the local area, continuing an increased chance of showers and thunderstorms. Rainfall will be heavy at times, leading to the chance of flooding and landslides, it said.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.