Power outage hits parts of Hong Kong Island for up to an hour on Wednesday
Hong Kong Free Press
Several districts on Hong Kong Island were without power for up to an hour soon after midnight on Wednesday. The blackout led to 30 reports of people being trapped in lifts, 37 reports of fire alarms being falsely set off, and seven reports of small fires, according to the city’s Fire Services Department, adding that there were no injuries.
Traffic lights and street lights went out, and convenience stores were plunged into darkness in multiple districts – including Central and Western District, Southern District, Eastern District, Wan Chai District – according to photos shared online.
While most people said the power disruption in their district lasted only for a few seconds, it took up to an hour for electricity to be restored in some areas. Some residents also experienced signal disruptions to their smartphones, according to local media reports.
Hong Kong Electric, which supplies Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island with electricity, said in an email to the media that the power supply was fully restored by 01:37 a.m. on Wednesday.
In that same email, the power company said that the power outage had been caused by a malfunction of the supply system, apologised for the inconvenience and promised to investigate the cause of the issue.
Blackout at Causeway Bay pic.twitter.com/tC4r0D9ZYJ
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On its website, Hong Kong Electric claimed that it had maintained a supply reliability of “over 99.999% of a world-class standard” since 1997.
A Hong Kong Electric spokesperson advised users to hire registered electricians to reset electrical installations and appliances that were sensitive to voltage dips, including lifts and computers.
Not every building affected equally
One affected resident, who gave their name as Martin, told HKFP that not every building in his area experienced the power blackout. “[O]nly my building encountered an electricity cut, most residential buildings in my estate had power as normal.”
Martin, who lives in Ap Lei Chau, said he was taking a shower when the electricity went out for a second. Moments later, the power was completely cut off, he said. He managed to finish his shower in darkness, before waking up his mother to look for torches. However, he said the internet signal was too weak for him to browse online forums and seek information regarding the blackout.
“This blackout did not go on for as long as the one Yuen Long experienced… I didn’t suffer from it as I didn’t need to go out at that hour. The power supplier could compensate us, but it won’t hurt if they don’t,” Martin told HKFP.
This was the second large-scale power outage Hong Kong has faced in a year. Some 160,000 households in New Territories West were plunged into darkness last June after a fire broke out on a power cable bridge in Long Ping, causing some areas to be without electricity for around 13 hours.
To “show care and express gratitude for the affected customers’ understanding,” CLP Power, which supplied power to the affected areas, gave out HK$100 vouchers to all affected residential customers to spend at around 600 participating shops in Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai.
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