Power outage plagues many areas as snow storm downs trees

AMMAN — As the snow storm continues and demand for electricity increases, many citizens are left without electricity in the Kingdom.

In a statement made available to The Jordan Times on Thursday, the Jordan Electric Power Company (JEPCO) said that falling trees and branches led to power outages in 20 main locations affiliated with the company. 

Snow accumulations restricted service to major locations, the JEPCO statement added, noting that there are around 1,300 employees and 400 service machineries in the field.

“Snow has knocked out electricity, tree branches continue to fall and snow is still accumulating on the roads,” Alaa Mahmoud, a Jordanian who lives in Bayader Wadi Seer, told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

Mahmoud said that with the help of her family members, she managed to clear the ice in front of their home, but still neighbourhood roads are covered in snow, adding that she expected that the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) would at least clear residential streets, but no service machinery came. 

“We are bundled up and just trying to keep warm. It is exceptional weather conditions, but we expected that relevant government bodies are well prepared,” she said.

“The house is cold, I cannot open the windows’ electric shades, I cannot cook, I cannot even prepare milk for my baby,” said Sarah Hussein, a mother of two, noting that power went out in her neighbourhood for more than 14 hours, and she called the Jordanian Electric Power Company who kept promising her to come, but no one came.

“When I called the power company, they told me they are dealing with over 900 power outage complaints,” according to Hussein. 

Meanwhile, Theeb Bilal, a Jordanian in his 60s, told The Jordan Times over the phone that since early morning, his neighbours started clearing their driveways and salting the sidewalks. 

“It is a good thing that power did not go out in his area, but there are many trees that are bending over,” Bilal added.

“Until now everything is ok, I just hope that excess snow does not cause further damage, because it is always a concern when temperatures plummet and it snows. We are not prepared for cold weather,” he said.