Storms burn up dozens of computers

By George Psyllides

DOZENS of computer users saw their machines seize up because of the harsh weather this weekend, repair shops reported yesterday.

Reports from several computer dealers said dozens of PCs had suffered burnt modems or power supply systems because of electricity surges created by lightning strikes during the weekend storms.

Michalis Charalambides of Cyberia said they had received over a dozen phone calls from people whose computers had been fried by the surges.

The most common damage found by the company’s technicians, he said, were burnt modems and power supplies.

The same was reported from Paphos, where computer suppliers PC Cool said they were working on around a dozen PCs with similar damage.

Several other retailers around the island reported the same thing.

Computer technician Michalis Chaitidis, who was working on six machines – five with frazzled modems and one with a burnt-out power supply – said people could protect their equipment by installing a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) or a surge stabiliser.

Electricity Authority (EAC) Spokesman Tasos Rousos said yesterday the phenomenon was rare, but admitted that when lightning struck the waves could get into the systems.

The same could happen to television sets through the aerial on the roof of the house, Rousos warned.

” You could ground your aerial or install a low intensity lightning conductor to absorb the waves,”he said.

He added that because this kind of storms were rare in Cyprus not many people went to such lengths.

” I wouldn’t say it’s necessary but the possibility is there when lightning strikes,”Rousos said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.