The Jamaica Public Service, JPS said its response to areas affected by Tropical Storm Rafael, is being hampered by persistent rain.

The light and power company also indicated that teams cannot reach some communities as the roads are impassable. 

JPS says restoration work will resume, once it is deemed safe.

In a statement, JPS President Hugh Grant said teams are continuing their efforts to restore power supply to customers affected by outages caused by Tropical Storm Rafael, but are being hampered by heavy rains and strong winds still affecting sections of the island. 

Mr. Grant said consistent with the projections of the Meteorological Service, the country has been seeing persistent rainfall resulting in flooding and landslides in several communities. 

In some instances, crews have had to stop working because of impassable roads.

Mr. Grant indicated that despite the proactive actions taken by JPS to deploy teams and resources to facilitate safe and quick responses, the company was experiencing delays as the storm passed. 

He said projections from the met office are that rain will continue in sections of the island throughout today, which could cause further outages and delay restoration. 

However, the JPS is committed to working as long as it is safe to do so, and customers are being asked to be patient.

Mr. Grant also urged customers to take every precaution to stay safe, by exercising caution when driving on wet and flooded roadways, and avoiding going near fallen poles and downed power lines.

These issues should be reported to the JPS.