Power outage in The Hague city center affecting 45,000 households; Chaotic rush hour
Update, 6:30 p.m.: Power was restored for most affected people by about 5:30 p.m., Stedin said in an update. The duration of the outage was approximately 90 minutes. The cause of the disruption has not been determined.
A power outage affecting the city center and other parts of The Hague left tens of thousands of people without electricity at the end of Tuesday afternoon. There were many problems on the city’s public transport network as a result, creating a difficult rush hour situation for many even though trains were largely running on time.
"Please only call the emergency services for real emergencies," local authorities wrote on citizen alert system Burgernet just before 4:30 p.m. A total of 45,200 households and businesses were without power, according to grid operator Stedin. Aside from the city center, people reported problems in the coastal areas of Duindorp and Scheveningen, as well as the Archipelbuurt, Kompasbuurt, and other nearby neighborhoods.
Stedin said it was hoping to have the issue resolved between 6:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. “Our technicians are on their way to determine the cause and resolve the outage as quickly as possible,” the company said on social media.
First responders were answering multiple calls of people trapped in elevators, records show. Several national government buildings were evacuated because of the electricity outage. Among them are the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Health Welfare and Sport, and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
But with the trouble extending through the end of the afternoon, the expectation is that commuters trying to get home will continue to have difficulty doing so. Public transport system HTM reported cancellations, delays and detours on each of the city’s tram routes.
"I was just driving and suddenly poof! Power gone," one tram operator in The Hague told Omroep West. "Then the job is to come to a halt as safely as possible by letting the tram roll as far as possible and then letting the passengers out. And now we have to wait until we have power again, that's all we can do," he said.
HTM said it was unlikely for normal service to be restored before 5:30 p.m., but disrupted service could be extended by at least an hour.
The Haaglanden security office declared a Grip 2 regional emergency because of the incident. This ensured that a Regional Operational Team would be set up to coordinate the emergency response from a central location.
They can then provide advice, and help collect and disseminate information as needed. They are also responsible for briefing the mayor’s office.
