Power Outage Leaves Several Downtown Businesses in the Dark

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – What should have been a busy day in downtown Nassau, with several cruise ships in port, was instead a day where shoppers could be seen in dark showrooms, with no air conditioning, and employees trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Inside Luryx Perfume Bar, the store’s manager confirmed they had been without power since four o’clock Wednesday afternoon.

Which meant on a busy cruise ship day, it meant heavy losses.

Store Manager, Luryx Perfume Bar –

“We came back to work with power off. It’s really bad for us as business because we can’t sell anything, basically.”

However, some customers still found their way into stores, which meant all was not lost at the cash registers, as merchants used alternate power sources to transact whatever sales they could.

Store Manager, Luryx Perfume Bar

“We have a power bank which stays up, but we also have, like, a wireless credit card machine that was really helping us, like, if somebody wants to purchase something in the dark.”

As our Joshua Williams and his cameraman moved along the usually busy Bay Street corridor, the sound of standby generators echoed through the area.

For the businesses that had them, the lights were on and the cash registers moving.

However, for those store owners like Wellington Woods with no generator, it meant a day of lost business.

Wellington Woods – Business Owner

“ Businesses have to operate, you know, so no one give us credit for the loss. They also need to give rebates on all of this electricity being cut off regularly, you know, because it’s not fair.”

The impact wasn’t only being felt behind the counter, because for tourists stepping off cruise ships, and into the downtown shopping district, even browsing became a challenge.

Inside some stores, we watched shoppers with cellphone flashlights sifting through merchandise.

A statement from Bahamas Power and Light says the extended outage is tied to an issue at its East Hill Street substation.

The company says an additional equipment problem was discovered while crews tried to re-route power, with repair times of five to six hours expected.