Conflict, economy leave parts of Middle East in dark
CAIRO — Surgeons last month in an Egyptian hospital were 30 minutes into a hysterectomy when the operating room went dark — struck by a power cut. A generator should have kicked in. It didn't.
"The patient thought her life was ending," said Dr. Nader Mohsen Al-labede of the woman on the operating table, who was awake but numbed under spinal anesthesia.
Eventually the doctors calmed her down and operated for the next hour and a half with help from a handful of cellphones, Al-labede said. "Thank God the patient is okay," he said.
This is not an isolated example of Egypt's, or the region's, new reality. Al-labede is among millions of people living and working in a part of the world where conflict and severe economic strife have led to regular power cuts that plunge hospitals, shops and homes into darkness.
Blackouts sent pangs of frustration surging through Egypt last year, fueling anger toward former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted in July 2013. They worsened this summer at the height of the sweltering heat, stemming from a range of factors: shortage of gas, poor maintenance of power plants, and state failure to pay debts to foreign oil companies. Egypt's leadership said militants have attacked electricity pylons, contributing to the difficulties.
On Thursday, a massive power outage stopped parts of Cairo's subway, took TV stations off the air and ground much of the country to a halt for several hours. On Saturday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said the outage was largely due to crumbling infrastructure that needs billions of dollars and time to fix.
In a half-hour, nationally televised speech, el-Sissi asked the public to be patient and grasp the extent of the challenges faced to reduce such outages.
"We have said before that Egypt faces many challenges," he said. "Electricity is like any other facility. It needs money and huge investment to fix. We must know this is not going to happen overnight."
In neighboring Libya, challenges resound. Rival militias in the capital Tripoli have fought for control of the city's international airport since mid-July, affecting many aspects of life including power supply, residents say.
"I don't know how long I can actually withstand what's going on," said wedding photographer Amira Izruna. "I don't want to be in a country that is so unstable for so long."
Power outages usually hit Izruna's home for six hours a day and last up to 14 hours in parts of the capital. She can't edit her photos when the power is out. Almost half of the celebrations she planned to photograph may be postponed, she said, adding that her husband was going to shop for a generator.
In the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, people have grown used to cuts, which have been common during the summers since the 2011 revolution against dictator Moammar Gadhafi, said city resident Ahmed Amir Neihoum. He said power was out for a day recently in cities nationwide, reminding him of films depicting the end of the world.
"You cannot make any phone calls, you can't switch on the air conditioning," he said. "There's a lot of stuff you can't do."
The Gaza Strip has also struggled. Even before its recent war with Israel, power sources met no more than 70% of the population's need — dropping to 36% after the conflict was brought under control, according to Ahmed Sourani, Gaza program manager at Oxfam International.
Gaza's only power plant was hit by Israeli shelling, which also damaged transformers and electrical wires, hindering flows of power coming from Israel, he said.
Sourani also said sewage treatment plants are still not working at full capacity, causing sewage to flow into the Mediterranean Sea. Agricultural irrigation is suffering. Refrigerated medicines and vaccinations are going bad. And communication is hindered, he said.
"Life without electricity can hardly be managed," said Gaza resident Khalil Abu Shammala, director of the Al Dameer Association for Human Rights.
Baghdad, where stifling summer temperatures routinely hang above 110 degrees, has also suffered. Many people have generators, but the poor can't afford them, said Sami El Hilali, a resident of the Horreya district of Iraq's capital.
While Iraqis have been subjected to the problem since the rule of Saddam Hussein, electrical flows have grown more chaotic, he said.
"With Saddam, it would cut for three hours, then work for three hours — there was a system," he said. "But there's no system in Iraq now. Now, it's terrible."
In Lebanon, power cuts are so routine that apps for Apple and Android devices were created to let users track them. Now, an ongoing strike by electrical company workers threatens to make matters worse as limited state funds and increased demand from an influx of more than 1 million Syrian refugees has led to a rise in power rationing across the country, according to The Daily Star, a Lebanese newspaper.
In neighboring war-torn Syria, power cuts have hit Damascus, while some parts of Aleppo, shattered by two years of fighting, had no power at all at the end of June. Other districts had less than one hour a day, according to the United Nations. The problem contributes to worsening health conditions.
"Damaged water infrastructure, hot weather, overcrowded shelters and frequent power cuts have caused increasing water shortages and polluted water supplies, leading to recent outbreaks of waterborne diseases across the country," said an August report published by the Syria Needs Analysis Project.
Contributing: The Associated Press