MANILA – Super typhoon “Yolanda” has cut power in Leyte, Samar and Bohol after toppling transmission lines on Friday.
Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said the entire Visayas grid is now running below capacity with just 97 megawatts out of its supposed load of 1,000 megawatts.
“They should have a load of about a thousand, but that’s all they have right now because transmission lines have been affected by this typhoon,” he told ANC Friday afternoon.
Petilla said he is uncertain when power will be restored because communication lines are also down and they can't reach linemen to do the repairs.
Petilla said the last time he spoke to his men in Visayas was at around 7:30 a.m. He noted that he received reports of 10-ft-deep floods in downtown Tacloban before communication was cut off.
“I think it’s really bad out there because we can’t get in touch with anybody right now…There is zero communication as of the moment,” he said.
The energy chief is scheduled to fly to the region on Saturday to assess the damage caused by the typhoon.
“I’m scheduled to leave tomorrow to do an aerial inspection in various areas just to look at the extent of the devastation not only on the power sector but overall,” he said.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
