Wednesday, February 26

Chile has declared a state of emergency after a massive power outage cut electricity to most of the country, including the capital of Santiago.

The incident occurred on Tuesday and knocked out power across the country, affecting over 8 million homes across 14 out of Chile's 16 regions. The blackout lasted for hours, and only around half of all homes have received electricity again.

The National Electric Coordinator, or CEN, of Chile is a company that manages the electrical grid. The grid, named the National Electric System, provides power to around 97% of Chileans. The CEN stated that a high-voltage transmission line between the Atacama Desert and the capital of Santiago had experienced an issue, leading to the blackout. However, they are still investigating the cause of the incident.

Meanwhile, several measures were taken to prevent the country from breaking down into chaos during the power outage. A state of emergency was quickly declared, a curfew was established in some areas, and local forces were sent into the streets to direct traffic.

Thankfully, hospitals and government facilities have been running on backup generators, but millions of homes and businesses are still out of power. The world's largest copper mine, Escondida, located in the Atacama Desert, is also out of power. Officials are racing to restore electricity to the country, but it may take time.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Corn, rice, and wheat act as staple foods for around 80% of the world's population, and they provide around two-thirds of the global population's food energy intake.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Emotions are celebrated and repressed, analyzed and medicated, adored and ignored — but rarely, if ever, are they honored. (Karla McLaren)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Superfluous (adj, soo-PER-floo-us) - Superfluous is a formal word used to describe things that exceed what is necessary or sufficient, or that are simply not needed.

In a Sentence: Further discussion seems superfluous, given the thorough conversation we just had.