ATHENS – The strain on infrastructure on popular Greek islands overwhelmed by tourists saw Folegandros, Ios, and Sikinos in the Cyclades lose electricity for seven hours with a lingering heatwave boosting consumption and air conditioning.

It began at 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 15 and power wasn’t restored until 3:30 a.m. although hour-long outages were being staged on Ios until the cause of the problem could be found by the state power company.

The three islands are powered by medium voltage underwater cables from larger Paros, which is connected to the power system on the mainland through a high voltage underwater cable.

The medium voltage interconnection lines to the small islands of the Cyclades and the Aegean were built decades ago and can’t meet the current demand for electricity even on small islands whose population booms in the summer.

There’s also water shortages on a number of islands being worsened by luxury resorts and people who can afford swimming pools filling them although there hasn’t been limitations on use so far.

The government is looking at ways to limit cruise ships going to bigger islands such as Mykonos and Santorini and tourists looking to avoid overrun islands are now flocking to less-publicized destinations and filling those too.