Hong Kong power outages hit Ho Man Tin, disrupting 1,000 households and hotel

Two power outages struck Hong Kong's Ho Man Tin district on Wednesday night into Thursday, leaving around 1,000 households and a hotel without electricity. The first outage, lasting over four hours, began at 11.18pm near Waterloo Road and was caused by equipment malfunctioning. CLP Power, responsible for electricity in Kowloon and the New Territories, reported that engineers conducted emergency repairs and temporarily used mobile generators to restore power at 3.47am. However, heavy usage on Thursday morning caused instability, briefly affecting about 650 customers.

CLP Power's community support team collaborated with the Home Affairs Department, district councillors, and property management companies to address the situation. They provided residents with batteries and emergency lighting systems. The Police Department received four outage reports between 11.36pm on Wednesday and 1am on Thursday, while the Fire Services Department handled three calls about people trapped in lifts on Argyle Street and Waterloo Road.

The impact was particularly felt at the Metropark Hotel Kowloon, where staff used torches and visitors gathered in the lobby. A tourist staying at the hotel described his lack of air conditioning and reliance on the street to cool off, noting that the hotel lights and one elevator remained operational. Social media shared stories of residents unable to return home, having to stay on the street during the disruption.