Six thousand homes and businesses in Tai Po were hit by a blackout yesterday which left them without power or air-conditioning for 19 hours as temperatures hit 36 degrees Celsius for the second day running.
Shops operated by candlelight and flat owners had to descend up to 24 flights of stairs to escape the heat as cooling systems were shut down. The chaos continued last night with about 6,000 households on Kwong Fuk Estate and Wan Tau Tong estates in darkness until 8.20pm when power was restored.
Another 6,000 homes joined the blackout at about 7pm when the demand for electricity increased. They also had their power restored at 8.20pm.
The blackout, which came on a day when temperatures hit their highest level in more than four years, began with a fault occurring in an underground cable supplying a sub-station in Kwong Fuk Road at 1.34am.
Some 18,000 homes and businesses in Kwong Fuk Road and Kwong Fuk Estate were hit by the early morning power cut but most had power restored within minutes.
However, the misery continued for 6,000 homes and shops as workmen struggled to locate the fault and Tai Po woke to another day of high temperatures.