Greenland hit by power outage, strong winds in wake of US tensions easing

The blackout arrives arsenic the authorities has encouraged citizens to beryllium acceptable for a ‘disaster’ lasting up to 5 days.

Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, has faced a wide powerfulness outage aft beardown winds triggered a transmission problem, the authorities inferior said, arsenic the Arctic land contends with the fallout from the situation fuelled by United States President Donald Trump’s territorial designs.

At astir 10:30pm connected Saturday (00:30 GMT, Sunday), societal media users began reporting a abrupt blackout that occurred astatine the aforesaid time, Greenlandic paper Sermitsiaq reported.

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The inferior institution posted connected Facebook that gusty winds astatine the main Buksefjord hydroelectric powerfulness works had caused “a enactment mistake connected our transmission line” and that they were moving to reconstruct powerfulness with an exigency plant.

Water supplies were besides affected successful immoderate areas, Sermitsiaq reported, arsenic good arsenic net connectivity.

Power had been restored to 75 percent of the city’s colonisation of astir 20,000 by 3:30am connected Sunday (5:30 GMT), the inferior said successful an update, calling connected radical to beryllium blimpish successful their usage of electrical devices arsenic the inferior continued to reboot.

The outage came connected the heels of the authorities releasing a brochure with details astir catastrophe preparedness that encouraged Greenlanders to store capable drinking water, food, medicine, lukewarm covering and alternate connection devices to past astatine slightest 5 days.

The authorities emphasised that the guidance was not an look that a situation was imminent. But Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, has been thrust into the geopolitical spotlight for weeks amid United States President Donald Trump’s escalating threats to seize the island.

Trump appeared to partially backmost off astatine the World Economic Forum successful Davos, Switzerland, claiming helium had ruled retired taking Greenland by force. He and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte had agreed connected a “long-term” model for a aboriginal woody involving Greenland and the Arctic region, the president said.

Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said overmuch of the expected woody was murky, including whether Trump would question power of territory adjacent US subject bases, arsenic immoderate reports suggested.

“I don’t cognize what determination is successful the agreement, oregon the deal, astir my country,” Nielsen said.

“But sovereignty is simply a reddish line,” helium added.