Another day without power — that was the case for thousands of residents yesterday.

Some 1,500 lost their electricity after Tropical Storm Fay swept across the Island, and many more after Hurricane Gonzalo.

However, the arrival of additional CARILEC linemen from the Caribbean to join the power restoration efforts is expected to have a positive impact on the “Fay 1500”.

“Belco is in a position to dedicate several restoration crews specifically to customers who have been without power since TS Fay,” said a Belco spokeswoman last night.

“We will also dedicate some crews to addressing the commercial customers that have not yet had power restored. We will, of course, continue to work on jobs that affect larger groups of customers, and we will continue to have some crews dedicated to emergency repairs and quick fixes.”

Despite efforts of Belco crews this week they continue to fight an uphill battle.

On Wednesday 3,281 customers were without power and by yesterday morning that figure had swelled to 3,976.

Adding to the problems were two pole fires — one in Flatts and the other in Spanish Point. Both were caused by the heavy rain yesterday.

“This is an expected occurrence after two hurricanes that have produced widespread damage to our system, as equipment is covered with salt and debris,” she explained.

“As a result of the fires, two circuits were taken out on Wednesday night that had previously been restored. Crews are working to reinstate these circuits. We also have one additional main circuit still out.

“The remaining outages are primarily small jobs and they are widespread across the entire Island.

“Yesterday, crews were catching up with the day before’s work, which was slowed by an accident on Dock Hill that saw a truck take out one of our poles and associated equipment. Work to restore this area diverted resources from other jobs. Crews also tackled new work.”

Belco is being helped by 14 linemen from CARILEC-member utilities from Bahamas, Barbados, and Belize. Last night an additional five were expected to arrive from Cayman Islands.

A team that includes representatives of Belco, BTC and CableVision is coordinating efforts to replace the 170 poles reported as down. The companies all have equipment occupying the poles.

Broken down by parish, the number of homes without power yesterday morning were: Pembroke 650, Paget 351, Devonshire 619, Warwick 685, Southampton 396, Sandys 92, Smiths 495, Hamilton 297 and St George’s 391.

The areas affected are: Ferry Reach, Cottage Hill, Zuills Park, Ramgoat Hill, Winton Hill, Heron Bay MarketPlace, Valley View Crescent, John Smith’s Bay, Jennings Land, Hillside, Tankfield, Seabright Lane, Mill Reach Lane, Shelton Road, Crestwood Crescent, Bluck’s Point, Ingham’s Vale, Vaucrosson Crescent, St John’s Hill, Clarence Dale Drive, Mermaid area, Harbour Road, Tribe Road #3 Southampton, Coral Acres and Witchery Lane.

Belco will update the figures for each parish this morning.

“Please note, some of the jobs assigned for Thursday will still be on the Friday list, and some jobs that appeared on the list earlier in the week are ongoing. There is considerable work to be done and crews are seeing work through to completion,” the spokeswoman said.