WGNO

Puerto Rico hit by massive new power outage

Hurricane Maria's power outages are larger than Sandy and Katrina

 SAN JUAN — A massive outage has wiped out power to Puerto Rico’s capital San Juan.

The problem is with a failure on a main transmission line, said Fernando Padilla, an official with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, known as PREPA.

Power generation plummeted from over 40% of capacity to 18% on Wednesday, PREPA said.

Much of Puerto Rico has been without power since Hurricane Maria smashed the island on September 20.