BALANGA CITY – Sudden strong winds at dawn of Sunday brought about by storm Gorio rendered seven of 11 towns and a city in Bataan without electric power from three to seven hours due to breakdown on 69 KV Lines.
Affected were the towns of Samal, Pilar, Orion, Limay, Bagac and Morong and the City of Balanga.
Jonathan Manrique, manager of the Orion service center, said the 69 KV Lines that serve the Limay to Morong line was affected due to strong winds at 4:30 in the morning. “Nagkaroon ng clearance ang conductor kaya nagka-problema at nawalan ng kuryente sa mga bayan ng Pilar, Orion, Limay, Bagac at Morong,” he said.
Manrique said they have fixed the problem at past 11 a.m. and will advise the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines to restore back the power.
The 69 KV Lines of Samal bogged down at 4:15 a.m. and the town suffered power outage from 4:15 to 7:30 of the same morning. In Balanga City, power blackout hit nine of its barangays for more than three hours.
“Dahil sa lakas ng hangin kaninang madaling-araw kaya nagkiskisan ang mga linya at naapektuhan ang serbisyo ng kuryente pero dalawang grupo ng aming service crews ang agad rumisponde,” said foreman Zaldy Mercado of the Peninsula Electric Cooperative.
Before the power outage in Balanga City, fire broke out at the service line in barangay San Jose burning portions of some electric wires. Residents said the Bureau of Fire Protection immediately responded using fire extinguishers.
Service crews of Penelco, power distributor in Bataan, were seen busy repairing electric lines in Balanga City and Orion town.
At the Bataan Capitol in Balanga City, strong winds crumpled big canvass tent to be used Monday morning in the turn-over ceremony between outgoing Gov. Enrique Garcia and newly-elected Gov. Albert Garcia.
The elder Garcia won as congressman in the second district, post to be vacated by son Albert.
Some big and already fruit-bearing mango trees were uprooted in Orion, Bataan.
