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THE
Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the country’s largest
power distributor, said Sunday a large part of its
franchise area was affected by power outages after
typhoon Frank hit Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon
early Sunday morning, but restoration was nearly
complete.
In other
developments:
§
Philippine Airlines, the only carrier operating domestic
flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at the
height of Typhoon “Frank,” (international name: “Fengshen”),
said that with the exception of two regular jet flights
to Kalibo and six turbo-propeller PAL Express flights,
it operated its entire schedule of domestic and
international services Sunday, albeit with unavoidable
delays as the typhoon roared through the capital.
§
The
Billboard Safety Initiative, speaking through lawyer
Oliver San Antonio, said billboard companies had rolled
down their billboards on Edsa in expectation of Frank’s
onslaught.
§
The
National Transmission Corp. (Transco) said Typhoon
Frank’s strong winds caused the tripping of several of
its transmission lines in Luzon but those serving Metro
Manila and adjacent areas have remained intact.
Transco
System Operations vice president Carlito Claudio said
Transco is closely coordinating with Meralco, Napocor
and electric distributors and cooperatives in order to
hasten power restoration in affected areas.
As of 4
p.m. Sunday, June 22, Transco’s System Operations group
reported a power load of 2,900 megawatts, approximately
50 percent of the normal load at that time of day.
Claudio
said Frank’s winds caused the tripping of Transco’s
500-kilovolt San Jose-Tayabas line. Line crews are
already in the area in South Luzon to conduct repair
works.
Typhoon
Frank also caused the tripping of several 230-kv lines
in South Luzon including the Naga-Tayabas,
Pagbilao-Tayabas, and Kalayaan-Gumaca lines.
In the
Visayas, Cebu and Bohol islands have been fully
energized. Ninety percent of Negros and 80 percent of
Leyte also have electricity. Other subgrids bore the
brunt of Typhoon Frank with only 10 percent of Samar and
2 percent of Panay energized, and the provinces of Aklan,
Antique, Iloilo and Capiz affected.
Napocor
assured its contracted customers and electricity
consumers that its power generation facilities are
operational and working efficiently, and there is enough
power to meet the present demand.
Strong
winds, heavy rain, flying debris as well as floodings
have affected transmission and distribution facilities
causing power outages and brownouts in these areas.
“In
Luzon, power plants in the South that have been affected
are Pagbilao, Mauban, Tiwi, and Ilijan. On the other
hand, Makban is on house load while Sta. Rita and San
Lorenzo are on simple cycle operation. Power plants
located in North Luzon are not yet affected,” Napocor
said.
Meanwhile, PAL was scheduled to operate 45 domestic jet
services out of Manila bound for 17 provincial points
Sunday. As of press time, the flag carrier had already
dispatched 33 of those flights, with the rest on
schedule for departure later in the day.
On the
other hand, all 29 PAL international flights from Manila
and two from Cebu scheduled Sunday were operated, albeit
with delays. There were no cancellations of scheduled
international services. Four incoming international
flights, all scheduled for dawn or early-morning
touchdowns in Manila, were diverted to Cebu to wait out
the storm’s passing.
After
Meralco’s hotlines were swamped with calls, Hao advised
the public to instead text their concerns at
0917-5592824 or 0920-9292824. |
