One fear of office workers or residents of multi-story buildings is that a power outage will occur while they are inside an elevator. With the recent round of outages, it is not unlikely that someone would find themselves in such a situation.
The Visayan Electric Company Inc. has been issuing advisories about the limited power supply, which has led to outages in parts of Cebu. Take, for example, its advisory to consumers last Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026.
In simple terms, the advisory said that the Visayas did not have enough electricity to meet demand on that day. The power system had 2,283 megawatts available, while expected demand was 2,360 megawatts, leaving a shortage of about 77 megawatts. One reason given was that electricity normally imported from Mindanao was unavailable.
To prevent the entire grid from becoming unstable or suffering a much larger blackout, power distributors had to temporarily cut electricity to selected areas, one group at a time. That is why it is called a rotational brownout. The outage did not affect all Visayan Electric customers at the same time.
For ordinary citizens, this means charging phones and power banks early, preparing flashlights, and checking the latest advisory.
But there is another disturbing possibility. Getting caught inside an elevator that stalls between floors when the outage occurs.
It can be stressful and frightening. It can be completely dark if there is no emergency lighting. One must have the presence of mind to press the emergency call button or contact someone through the intercom. There may also be no mobile phone signal.
If you are alone, the fear can intensify because there is no one to be afraid with. If you are with others, you can only hope someone knows what to do and that everyone stops screaming after the initial shock.
So, during rotational brownouts, it may be useful to remember these instructions, gathered from online sources:
Stay calm. Modern elevators are designed with safety features, such as emergency lighting that activates immediately and a braking system that prevents the elevator from falling.
Some modern elevators have a rescue device that moves the elevator to the nearest floor and opens the doors. Without such a device, the elevator should move to the next floor and open its doors once power is restored or the building’s generator starts operating.
Press the emergency call button. It is usually at the top of the control panel, marked with a yellow bell icon.
Do not force the doors open. Elevators can restart unexpectedly, and attempting to exit at that time can be extremely dangerous. Stay inside and wait for help.
If no one answers, shout or bang on the metal doors every few minutes to attract attention.
If you have mobile phone signal, send a message asking for help, but conserve your phone battery. During periods of rotational brownouts, it is best to bring your phone whenever you use an elevator.