Auckland family left without power for six days, unable to flush toilets, forced to throw out food

• A rural north Auckland family was left without power for six days last week.
• They were forced to throw out food and couldn’t flush the toilet.
• Vector says they are investigating what happened.

A rural north Auckland family were left without power for six days amid Cyclone Tam, forcing them to throw out food and pour water down the toilet to flush it.

Te Arai resident Sarah-Jane Capstick told the Herald they lost power to their property at midnight on Wednesday last week.

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“We were prepared, we had a little bit of gas for our gas cookers, and were thinking it would be out for a day or two because we were rural.”

She was initially told an equipment fault caused the power outage.

“After the next day, because the weather was terrible, I asked who was going to pay for all the stuff we are losing. They said it was because of a weather event.”

The Capstick family from rural Auckland were left without power for six days, leaving them unable to eat hot meals or wash their dishes. Photo / Supplied

Areas of the North Island were hammered by ex-tropical Cyclone Tam last week.

Vector told Capstick the power would be turned on by 6pm on Thursday.

She called back about 5pm, asking for an update and was told it might be restored about 7pm or 8pm, she said.

She called back at 8pm asking for an update and was told the power may come back on at 4.30pm the next day.

This Monday, after telling Vector there was an 8-month-old baby in the household who needed feed bottles, Capstick was told the house had been prioritised.

“I rang up at 6pm and asked what was going on, and was told we were high-priority. They twice assured me they were sending someone out to our property, but no one has turned up.”

Eventually, the power was restored about 9.10pm.

Northpower crews endure rain and wind in efforts to restore power to Northland homes as ex-tropical Cyclone Tam hit last week. Photo / Northpower

Capstick claimed the Vector repair officer told her: “Whoever was in charge of checking the lines and fuses either never bothered to come up this far down the road or simply never did their job.”

Because of their rural location, the family’s house relies on tank water, which requires electricity to run the pump.

Capstick said they were forced to scoop water out of the tank to wash hands and do the dishes.

“We have had gas cookers going, but it’s costing so much for the gas cans, it’s not doable,” she said.

“We also had a generator, but you can only run it for so long because it costs so much to run.”

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The family were forced to throw away all the food in their refrigerator and couldn’t eat hot meals for almost a week.

Capstick said the family couldn’t wash the dishes or flush the toilet.

“We’ve had to scoop water out of the tank and pour it down the toilet.”

Capstick said she wanted Vector to apologise and reimburse them.

“We have just been silenced,” she said. “I don’t think they care.”

A Vector spokesperson said the energy company was aware the house was without power for an extended period.

“This was understandably frustrating, particularly with young children.

“Our crews attended the property and restored power on Monday night. We’re dealing with this customer’s complaint directly to investigate why this happened.”

David Williams is an Auckland-based Multimedia Journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.

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