In the Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic, home to more than 11 million people, a significant power outage occurred on November 11.
According to information provided by the AP agency, the country's authorities reported that the cause of the blackout was an accident in the electricity transmission system. The first outage was the shutdown of the power plant in San Pedro de Macorís, which led to cascading outages across the country. The reasons for the initial accident remain unknown at this time.
The blackout had the most noticeable impact on the capital, Santo Domingo, and the popular resort of Punta Cana; however, social media users also reported power supply issues in other regions, according to Reuters. The power outage disrupted public transportation, including cable cars and the metro in the capital. Hospitals, banks, and large organizations were forced to switch to backup generators, while many residential homes and small businesses were left without electricity.
By the evening, the situation began to improve, and power supply in the country started to be restored. The head of the Ministry of Energy, Joel Santos Echavarria, reported that more than 527 megawatts of electricity were currently being generated, which is over 15% of the total national consumption, and this figure will continue to grow as the system stabilizes.
Tragedies in the island nation in 2025
It is worth noting that in late October, the Dominican Republic, along with other Caribbean countries such as Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Bahamas, faced the devastating hurricane "Melissa." According to USA Today, at least two fatalities were recorded in the country as a result of the storm. In the region, the death toll exceeded 50 people, and the hurricane caused severe flooding and landslides.
Additionally, a tragedy occurred on April 8 in Santo Domingo when the roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed during a concert, claiming the lives of 222 people. President Luis Abinader declared a three-day mourning period for the victims, and the authorities promised to investigate the circumstances of this disaster.
