Kite snags power lines, leaves Tacloban, 2 towns without electricity

TACLOBAN CITY – A kite that got entangled with major power lines sent this Tacloban and two adjacent municipalities into a power outage, disrupting business and normal activities on Monday.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) informed the Leyte II Electric Cooperative (Leyeco 2) that a kite intrusion between its two structures along the Apitong-Arado 69 kV line caused the unplanned outage that affected its entire service area.

Leyeco 2 serves the whole of Tacloban City, the provincial capital of Palo, and Babatngon town, with an estimated 200,000 households.

The unplanned outage earned the consternation of netizens as it happened when it had become hotter in recent days. The outage started at 2:24 PM and power came back past 3:30 PM.

NGCP has been issuing warnings against kite flying, especially during summer vacation when learners are on school break, due to numerous power outages in the past caused by kites entangled on power lines.