Service disrupted: A petrol station worker putting up a notice to inform customers of the power cut. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Havoc reigned in the Klang Valley at midday yesterday as a blackout hit, causing traffic jams, stalled lifts at housing areas and an outage of phone and Internet lines as well.
Thousands saw their daily activities disrupted, and many were left frustrated.
The blackout that started at 12.40pm saw several areas such as Petaling Jaya, Cheras and Bangi without electricity until about 3pm.
Senior executive Vanessa Chandran, 46, panicked when she was unable to exit an underground parking lot at her Petaling Jaya office.
“Luckily, the security guard came to lift the barrier gate manually. Without his help, I would have been stuck for longer,” she said.
John Fernandez, 53, who was working from home, also got anxious when the phone line and Internet connectivity went down.
“I called my family members who live elsewhere to fetch me. But while they could hear me, I couldn’t hear them.
“We had to communicate via text messages. I also could not book an ehailing service.
“To make matters worse, I could not use my car as the automatic house gate would not open,” he added.
Petty trader Halimah Kasim, 60, was frying curry puffs when her electric kitchen stove suddenly stopped working.
“I thought the stove had malfunctioned until I saw posts about the outage on social media. I had to throw out the puffs as they were undercooked. Luckily, I only fried a few pieces,” she said.
Alisya Ann said she was lucky to own a portable generator as it allowed her to work from home despite the outage.
“For someone who goes on camping trips often like me, it is a handy tool to have during an emergency,” she said.
The Selangor Fire and Rescue Department reported 11 cases of people being stuck in lifts.
The power outage also caused traffic lights in Kuala Lumpur to malfunction, although no major incidents were reported.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) traffic wardens were mobilised to affected locations.
