MANILA - Residents in the eastern part of Metro Manila should expect rotating brownouts of 3 to 4 hours on Thursday as an offshoot of the fire that damaged a transformer of the National Power Grid’s (NGC) sub-station in Taytay, Rizal.

Power distributor Meralco said the rotational brownout, with a tentative duration will affect portions of Rizal, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Quezon City, Pasig and San Juan.

Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco spokesperson, said the rotational interruptions will be implemented to minimize the disruptions in the affected areas.

The power outages took place around 9 p.m., minutes after a transformer of the NGC substation in Barangay Dolores, Taytay town caught fire.

It took firemen almost an hour to pacify the blaze, which caused brownouts in Pasig, Mandaluyong, Marikina Quezon City and parts of Rizal including Cainta, Angono, Taytay, Binangonan and Antipolo City.

As of posting, power has been restored in several affected areas except for some parts of Pasig, Taguig and Rizal.

“Magro-rotating interruptions tayo para ma-accommodate ang ibang area (We would need to implement rotating interruptions to accommodate other areas),” Zaldarriaga told ABS-CBN’s Umagang Kay Ganda.

Areas affected by the brownouts were still recovering from devastation caused by floods during the onslaught of tropical storm Ondoy (international codename Ketsana).

In Barangay Sagad, Pasig City, which was still in knee-deep floods, 30 families huddled in the barangay hall where they have been temporarily sheltered.

An evacuee said the power outage would make their lives more difficult, especially for children, who have to bear the poor conditions without an electric fan.

Traffic lights in some parts of Ortigas Center also went out, causing heavy traffic in major roads.