Power back on in northern Hawke's Bay settlement

The area where the felling of power poles in the storm cut electricity supply to Raupunga in Northern Hawke's Bay. Photo / Supplied

Gisborne-based Northern Hawke's Bay electricity supplier Eastern Networks had to fly lines crews into forestry near Raupunga to restore power supply to more than 160 homes in and around the State Highway 2 township.

The outage was first reported on the company Facebook page on Tuesday evening, saying 210 customers were without power – 166 of them in the Raupunga area and who went two nights without power before supply was restored about 9am today.

The others were closer-to an in Wairoa, according to reports.

The company said last night it hadn't made as much progress as hoped to get the supply restored by nightfall, and described it as a "major fault with multiple poles and wires down, and no road access."

"We've been flying crews and equipment to the site by helicopter, but the weather closed in and we had to get everyone out tonight before we'd finished repairs," a post said.

The situation was exacerbated by the closure the roads north and south of Raupunga, because of slips and flooding, meaning the network was unable to get generator into the area to provide temporary supply.