Unpruned trees cause spate of power cuts

Photo / APN

Many of the weekend's power cuts could have been prevented if trees had been pruned properly, according to Powerco's network operations manager Phil Marsh.

While the worst of last week's storm was over by Friday night, the effects were still felt throughout the weekend as power cuts continued to plague Wanganui.

On Friday morning around 2000 properties in and around Wanganui lost power due to damage to power lines, while yesterday morning, 3000 residents in Wanganui East lost power from 5.30am onwards.

Mr Marsh said supply was restored to most places within 45 minutes but some residents were without power for the whole day.

The Wanganui East outage was caused by a fault at the Wanganui substation, but Mr Marsh said trees were responsible for a "significant proportion" of power cuts, which could have been avoided if tree owners had called in the professionals to clear their trees from lines before they caused a problem.

"If tree owners played their part by having a Powerco-approved contractor cut away any branches growing too close to lines it would make a huge difference to the people of Wanganui," he said.

Supply was also cut to other parts of the city throughout the weekend, including Gonville, Durie Hill and Castlecliff.

"Most of [these] faults were on the low-voltage network, affecting small pockets of properties scattered throughout the region."

Mr Marsh said the network was "fragile" because of the severe weather.

He said if anyone was still without power they should phone their electricity retailer.

Meanwhile, Wanganui Fire Service was also still dealing with the aftermath of the storm, with fire officers receiving with dozens of call-outs since Friday morning, station officer Gary Wilson said.

"From about the time people got out of bed on Friday, it was bedlam. We were dealing with trees and power lines coming down, fences blown over, damage to houses - all sorts of things.

"We had three trucks going non-stop," Mr Wilson said.

He said it had quietened down over the weekend but there were still problems with damaged houses and power lines arcing and shorting.

Crews had attended a minor car crash on the corner of SH3 and Pakaraka Rd, near Maxwell.

"Other than that, it was all about the weather," Mr Wilson said.