SEOUL – Power outages in the Seoul metropolitan area left hundreds of households without heating, exposing residents to freezing temperatures as a severe cold wave tightened its grip on the Korean peninsula.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, temperatures on Jan 25 were colder than the day before, with morning lows hovering around minus 10 deg C nationwide, and strong winds further lowering wind chill values. In the capital Seoul, the morning low fell to minus 11 deg C.
The cold spell is forecast to persist through to the middle of next week, with morning temperatures in many parts of the country remaining near minus 10 deg C.
The weather agency urged extra caution, advising older adults, young children and those with weakened immune systems to refrain from outdoor activities where possible and to take care of their health amid sharp temperature drops and prolonged cold.
Amid the intense cold, a blackout affecting two apartment buildings in Guro-gu, western Seoul, lasted about 19 hours, local media reported on Jan 25. The outage began at around 9.30pm (8.30pm Singapore time) local time on Jan 23 at apartment complexes housing 939 households after water leaked into an electrical room on a basement level of one building.
Residents endured freezing indoor temperatures overnight as heating systems were rendered unusable. Seoul recorded a low of minus 11 deg C on Jan 23. One resident told local media they barely slept, relying on hot packs under blankets to stay warm. Two people who were trapped in an elevator during the outage were rescued by fire authorities, according to reports.
Power was fully restored at 4.54pm on Jan 24, roughly 19 hours and 30 minutes after the blackout began, following equipment replacement and safety inspections conducted by the authorities, including Korea Electric Power Corp. The Guro District Office said residents who had temporarily relocated to nearby community service centres and senior centres gradually returned home after electricity was restored.
In a separate incident, another apartment complex housing about 860 households in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi province, lost power at around 12.40am on Jan 24 due to a transformer malfunction. Power was restored within two hours, but residents faced other difficulties as heating systems were unavailable during the cold snap. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
