Damage to a section of line north of Whangamatā. Photo / PowerCo
Damage to a section of line north of Whangamatā. Photo / PowerCo
High winds overnight have caused widespread outages in the Coromandel and western Bay of Plenty regions of Powerco’s electricity network.
Most damage was from trees bringing down power poles and lines.
Powerco head of network operations Mark Dunn said while crews are working as quickly and safely as they canto make repairs and restore supply to thousands of customers, people should prepare to be without power overnight Sunday-Monday.
“We know it’s hard to be without power and we will do everything we can to get as many customers restored as quickly as possible, but this storm has caused damage in a lot of different locations,” Dunn said.
“For that reason, it’s important that if you are affected by an outage because of storm damage, you prepare to be without power overnight.”
“While we have had extra crews join the restoration today, we have multiple poles and lines down in a number of locations.
High winds overnight Saturday have caused widespread outages in the Coromandel and Western Bay of Plenty regions of Powerco’s electricity network, with most damage being from trees bringing down power poles and lines. Image / PowerCo
“We will be doing all we can with the technology we have in place to minimise the outage areas, however, we will need time to make repairs to physical damage such as restringing long sections of broken lines.”
Damage to a section of line north of Whangamatā. Photo / PowerCo
Coromandel Peninsula
The largest outage in Coromandel involves the area in and around Whangamatā, where 4809 customers have been without power since the early hours of Sunday morning. There are three main jobs affecting this area.
1090 customers north and south-west of Whangamatā have been without power since 12.13am due to trees through lines and broken power poles on Tairua Rd near Julian Rd.
3719 customers between Whangamatā and Whiritoa lost power just after midnight. Crews patrolling the 33kV line running from Waihī to Whangamatā have found a 600m span of line has come down in a particularly rugged area. Generation has meant Whangamatā’s CBD has been able to remain powered.
Further north in Ōnemana, 146 customers are without supply after a pine tree fell onto lines.
Generation has enabled power to remain on in Whangamatā’s CBD.
A trampoline upended by wind in Pyes Pā on Sunday morning. Photo / Megan Taylor
Western Bay of Plenty
The largest outages are in and around:
Katikati where lines came down on Kauri Point Rd and Hikurangi Rd, Katikati just after midnight, cutting supply to 814 customers.
Aongatete where 750 customers are without supply following storm damage.
Wairoa Rd where 689 customers are without power after a tree went through lines.
How customers can stay safe
If people see downed power lines, it’s important to:
Stay at least 10m away from the lines and poles – that’s about the length of a bus.
