Sao Paulo, with very little notice, is experiencing major disruptions with strong winds and power cuts that are leaving more than 2 million people in the dark. Southern Italy’s biggest employer, the Italian utility company Enel is subject to withering criticism. Local leaders and Mayor Ricardo Nunes are incensed at the company’s lack of response to the ongoing crisis. Winds reached up to 100 kilometers (62 mph). These strong tornado-like gusts led to 303 reports of tree damage including the fall of 231 large trees and damage to the power grid in multiple states.
Mayor Nunes called Enel “irresponsible” for its response to the incident. He pointed out that under his leadership, his administration took quick and decisive actions to mitigate threats. They pruned trees that might endanger the grid. The mayor encouraged Enel to redouble its efforts to restore power and respond to the finality of the situation.
“Every time something happens, we are left behind without electricity.” – Mayor Ricardo Nunes
Enel’s director, Marcelo Puertas, acknowledged the company’s challenges while stating that approximately 1,300 personnel are currently engaged in restoring power across Sao Paulo. Puertas showed us that work on the ground began as soon as the high winds were lashing the city.
Conditions only worsened on Wednesday, even after continuous work. The grid continued to break down, with more than 2M of the city’s residents losing power. Even with the storm largely past, disruption has been severe. The storm has massively upended air travel. Almost 400 flights were canceled, primarily impacting Congonhas Airport and Guarulhos International Airport.
Visual evidence from downtown Sao Paulo showed several vehicles displaying Enel’s logo parked in their lot, raising questions about the urgency of their response. Local authorities have assured as soon as that no one sustained injuries from the trees that fell. Further, there were no reported injuries attributable to the outages.
As residents await the restoration of their electricity and normalcy returns to air travel, the scrutiny on Enel’s handling of this crisis continues to grow. The reaction from the city’s leadership has been swift—and rightfully furious. They remain equally hell-bent on ensuring climate-change-fueled, terrible hurricanes never fail to leave devastation in their wake.
