On the evening of July 30th, some citizens were seen sleeping on makeshift beds by the roadside. Photo by reporter Liu Ming.
On July 30th, Jinan city in Shandong province reached a high temperature of 39.6°C, pushing the peak load of Jinan's power grid to its limit. That evening, there were power outages in many neighborhoods including Foshan Yuan, Qiban, Yaojia East, Langmaoshan, Hepan Jingyuan, Nan Quanfu South, Huayuan, and areas near Huanggang. The longest outage lasted more than ten hours.
Xinhua News Agency, Jinan, July 31st (reporter Liu Ming) At 10:30 PM on July 30th, I saw on Foshan Street that most of the shops that were usually brightly lit had lost their luster. Many residents from the nearby Qiban neighborhood were cooling off by the roadside; some were fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans, others had taken off their shirts, all discussing the power outage.
Mr. Zhang from Qiban Neighborhood Zone Six said that at around 9:30 PM, he was watching TV at home when the power suddenly went out. He initially thought it was just his own circuit breaker tripping, but then he realized the entire neighborhood was without power. Along the road in the neighborhood, many residents took mats and pillows, found a flat spot, swept it clean, laid down the mat, and slept by the roadside. Mr. Huang told reporters that once the power went out, it became unbearably hot at home, so they had no choice but to sleep on the street. Ms. Cai, who was lying on a makeshift bed playing with her phone, said she waited for half an hour at home, but still didn't know when the power would return.
Mr. Hou, who lives in the eastern area of Zhaojiacun Hepan Jingyuan near North Second Ring Road, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the frequent power outages in the neighborhood. "There was no advance notice from relevant departments before the power outage," Mr. Hou said. On the night of July 30th, there was a power outage at around 10 PM, which was restored less than an hour later, but soon after, the power went out again. Mr. Hou had no choice but to go out with his family to cool off. When they returned at around 12:30 AM, the power supply in the neighborhood had been restored. Ms. Wu, who lives in Hepan Jingyuan, said that after the power outage on the night of July 30th, more than a hundred households in the neighborhood protested.
Ms. Wang told reporters that the power in Nanweimenwai Street Neighborhood went out at around 9:30 PM, reportedly due to road construction severing the cable. In Yaojia East Neighborhood, the power went out at around 8 PM on the night of July 29th. After the power was restored in the early morning hours, another outage occurred on July 30th, affecting dozens of households across over ten buildings.
Mr. Zhang told reporters that every time it gets hot, the entire Langmaoshan neighborhood experiences a power outage, and this time was no exception. The power went out at around 8:30 PM on July 30th. Around 9 PM, a large-scale power outage also occurred in the Huanggang area of Tianqiao District. More than two hours later, the power had not been restored. The power outage in the first and second zones of Nan Quanfu South lasted more than three hours, and the ancient city village of Duan Store Town also experienced a power outage. Mr. Liu, who lives in Pingyin, said that starting around 8 PM, the Pingyin County Hospital began experiencing a power outage, and even after more than an hour, the power had not been restored.
Staff members of the Jinan Power Department introduced that as of 11:17 AM on July 30th, the maximum load of Jinan's power grid reached 4.125 million kilowatts, the highest value ever recorded. The reason for the power outages in the neighborhoods was mainly due to the continuous high temperatures causing a significant increase in cooling loads.
Feature: Li Gang's Sleepless Night
By reporter Yan Yinan
"Exactly when will the power be restored?" At 2:30 AM on July 31st, Li Gang, who lives in Building No. 9 of Zone Two in Huayuan Neighborhood, yelled into the phone at the Jinan Power Rainbow Hotline. After a few words, he helplessly hung up as the Rainbow Hotline did not provide a clear response.
Originally, Buildings No. 9, No. 10, and No. 11 in Zone Two of Huayuan Neighborhood, where Li Gang resides, experienced a power outage from around 10 PM on July 30th until 3:30 AM on July 31st, lasting four or five hours. The meteorological department of Jinan City had already issued a high-temperature warning these past two days. Such a humid heatwave combined with the inability to use air conditioners or fans during the power outage naturally caused people to become irritable. There are nearly 200 households across these three buildings.
After work on the evening of July 30th, when Li Gang returned home around 11 PM, he saw his neighbors sitting downstairs cooling off. One neighbor mentioned that along with the adjacent Building No. 10 to the west and Building No. 11 to the north, their building had suddenly lost power at around 10 PM without any prior notice of an outage. As they were speaking, the dormitory building south of Building No. 9 remained fully powered. Climbing up in the dark back to his apartment, Li Gang looked at the brightly lit windows of the building to the south and the illuminated streetlights beside it, feeling quite aggrieved, "Why is it only our building that has lost power?" Moreover, he had lived in this building for nearly two years, and such situations had never occurred during his stay.
At around 11:20 PM, the lights in the house turned back on, signaling the restoration of power. Drenched in sweat, Li Gang quickly turned on the air conditioner. However, before the room could cool down, the power went out again around midnight. Yet, the other building to the south remained unaffected. With no choice but to endure, unable to sleep, Li Gang continued waiting in the darkness for the return of light.
Around 3:30 AM, just as dawn was approaching, the power was finally restored.