Warmth in the dark: Anonymous man shows respect to Taipower workers

Tainan, July 14 (CNA) Despite a power outage that has lasted more than a week in the aftermath of Typhoon Danas, people have shown generosity to Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) workers, including treating them to meals, to thank them for their efforts to restore power.

One man, reportedly a Tainan resident, left NT$2,000 (US$68.16) to pay for the dinner of six Taipower workers after dining at a beef noodle restaurant in Syuejia District on Sunday, a local resident wrote in a Facebook post.

According to the post, the man told the restaurant owner to "treat the Taipower staff well" with the money, but refused to leave his name when asked.

The six workers, the post said, were not able to eat until after 9 p.m. and had to continue working until midnight. They were scheduled to resume work at around 6 a.m. on Monday.

The post received more than 9,400 likes within 24 hours, with many commenters expressing their appreciation for the Taipower employees.

On Monday, a Taipower shift leader surnamed Lo (羅), who was one of the six who had their meal paid for and works at the company's Xinying branch in Tainan, told CNA he was touched by the gesture, although he initially did not intend to accept it.

"I immediately ran out of the restaurant to catch up with him and return the money, but he had already gotten into a car and waved me off as he left," Lo recalled.

Lo said that while some people had previously offered them drinks or encouragement, it was the first time somebody had left cash to cover the cost of their meal.

It was not an isolated incident.

Chou Ming-yi (周銘益), a Taipower official from Kaohsiung who has been stationed in Tainan for a week, said, "People have treated us to food and drinks almost every day," something he had never experienced before.

In addition to the treats, Chou said local residents had also guided them to unfamiliar locations around the city.

In Chiayi County, a bubble tea shop has given away hundreds of drinks daily to Taipower staff in support of their efforts from Friday.

The shop owner, surnamed Fang (方), told CNA she was moved to see many Taipower workers from other counties such as Taoyuan and Hualien County working around the clock, which inspired him to contribute.

Taipower's Chiayi branch said a local McDonald's store recently donated nearly 100 meal sets, while the Taiwan Electrical Contractors Association provided more than 120 drinks on Friday.

Typhoon Danas struck Taiwan on July 6 and 7, causing blackouts in nearly 1 million households across the island and water outages in more than 73,000 homes. Of the estimated NT$2.6 billion in agricultural losses, NT$1 billion was reported in Tainan.

As of 1 p.m. Monday, Taipower said over 99 percent of affected households had their electricity restored, with 2,856 still without power.