MORE and more people are being admitted to hospital, suffering from the effects of heatstroke, with the extreme temperatures also causing problems with the electricity grid, leading to power cuts across the country.
Yesterday was the seventh consecutive day when temperatures topped 40C, with the Makarios and Nicosia General Hospitals reporting dozens of people admitted with a variety of different ailments brought on by the heat.
A spokesman for the Makarios Casualty Unit said that he had noticed, “an increase in children and the elderly suffering from dehydration, vomiting, and gastroenteritis, as well as from high body temperatures.”
Children’s wards at the hospital are said to be so overcrowded, that treatment is being administered in the halls and corridors.
“We can cope,” the spokesman explained.
For the first time in its history, the Electricity Authority of Cyprus has urged the public not to use certain electrical appliances between the hours of 11am and 5pm, in order to minimise power cuts seen across the island this week.
Spokesman Costas Gavrielides said that people should refrain from using washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners and hairdryers until late afternoon and to mind the use of electricity in general.
Demand for electricity has increased as the week has progressed, with new records being set, seemingly on a daily basis.
Yesterday, consumption reached 993 MW at 12.45pm, with an all-time record of 1,006 MW recorded at 3.30pm on Thursday.
“Up to now, not one power cut has been due to inadequate generating capacity,” Gavrielides went on to say. “Minor power cuts have been due to faults in 11 KV underground cables that occur due to humidity getting into the wiring,” he said. “The weak points then develop throughout the course of many years, but in cases of high electricity demand, they could cause faults in the power supply, something that has been seen in the last few days,” he added.
“The grid is very strong and diverts power, and that is why it is always restored within a maximum of two hours,” he said.
The Transmission System Operator has said there is capacity to deal with demand, with all contingency plans in place.
Daily capacity is normally 1,100 MW, but that is currently down to 1040 MW due to a generator at Moni being out of action, along with five gas turbines that cannot operate to their potential due to the high temperatures.
Meanwhile, a technical problem at the Larnaca desalination plant on Thursday has left some in the capital with no water, while others in Larnaca and Famagusta have a limited supply.
Vlassis Partassides, Senior Water Engineer at the Water Development Department, said that the plant had not been able to produce sufficient water due to the problem.
“Capacity is 50,000 cubic metres of water per day and we have been down to 30,000 cubic metres,” he said.
According to the engineer, the problem has been discussed with international experts, “and we are confident that it will be resolved very soon”.
During the course of the week, sales of fans and air conditioning units have sky-rocketed.
Electroline have reported sales increasing by 100 per cent.
The forecast for today is for a several degree drop in temperatures, with 36C to 37C expected tomorrow, which is the normal for the time of year.
