Most of Puerto Rico was hit by a major power outage on Tuesday and it could be until the early days of January before power is restored. Puerto Rico's power company said it began working to restore power to the island early in the morning.

Power outages are a frustratingly frequent occurrence for many Puerto Ricans. A string of blackouts during the summer prompted protests and a state of emergency.

More than 20,000 households in Downey faced power outages that lasted hours Tuesday evening, leaving some residents struggling to carry on with their Christmas Eve plans as it remained unclear when the electricity would come back on.