Power fully restored to residents in Taitung after Podul: Taipower

Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) Electricity has been fully restored to more than 40,000 households in Taitung after Typhoon Podul swept through the county earlier this week, Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) said Saturday.

Power was fully restored for users in Taitung after the last few emergency repairs were completed at around 10 p.m. on Friday, Taipower's Taitung District Office said in a statement.

The typhoon, which made landfall in Taimali Township in eastern Taiwan on Wednesday, caused power outages to 42,113 households in the county, mainly due to fallen trees cutting power lines in mountainous areas, and toppled 22 utility poles, the office said.

Two repair crews were deployed the following day to replace the poles, and on Friday they worked on repairing and straightening the power lines, it said.

Taipower said its technicians had to brave treacherous terrain littered with debris from landslides and damaged roads, making their work extremely difficult.

Each completed restoration, which took as little as one hour or, in some cases, up to half a day, typically brought power back to 20 to 30 households, it said.

Taipower said that if any households are still without electricity, they are advised to contact the company, which will dispatch personnel to inspect the situation.