Power out in some areas of Tacloban City again

CEBU, Philippines - Parts of Tacloban City, one of the areas hit by typhoon Yolanda, went without power again before dawn yesterday.

The sudden brownout hit the city’s downtown area as of 4 a.m., radio dzBB’s Rodil Vega reported. The downtown area had been among the areas where power was first restored.

While a local hospital near the Capitol had power, there was no electricity to power also the street lights in the area, the report added.

Some areas of the city have been without power, even until Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla’s promise to restore electricity here by Dec. 24. Generators have been used instead by residents in these places.

It was not immediately clear if yesterday’s brownout was due to a power interruption in Samar and parts of Leyte due to the tripping of the Ormoc-Babatngon 138-kilovolt line.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said on its Twitter account that it was working to restore power transmission services. “Reports indicate that the Ormoc-Babatngon 138kV line tripped at 12:03 a.m. today,” it said.

But the NGCP said in a later tweet that power transmission services to portions of Leyte and Samar had been restored.   (FREEMAN)