Electricity supplier Vector says it has begun reviewing its response to last week's devastating storm across northern New Zealand.
Acting chief executive Simon Mackenzie yesterday thanked his crews for the "extraordinary" hours they worked to restore power, and the public for their patience during "a very trying time".
"It has been a very intense and long week and there is still a lot of cleaning up to do after last week's hurricane," he said.
"I must admit it is a relief to get the worst behind us so that we can fully assess the extent of the damage to our network, clear away remaining debris, and get outstanding repairs completed."
Mr Mackenzie said a review had already begun to look at the company's storm response and "particularly ways that we can continually improve our performance with our customers".
Yesterday Vector said some of the delays in restoring power were because homes were isolated and helicopters and heavy machinery were needed to fix the lines and restore power poles.
But a Takapuna resident, Ian Johns, said the problems were not all in remote areas and accused Vector of putting money before everything else.
Mr Mackenzie said yesterday there was no denying the storm was an extraordinary event.
"On July 10 our network was hit by extreme winds ranging from 125km/h to 144km/h for up to four hours, and at times wind gusts of over 180km/h.
"International standards classify hurricane force winds as those that exceed 118.8km/h for more than 10 minutes.
"Clearly the storm exceeded these standards.
"Many contractors of more than 30 years' experience described the storm as the worst they had encountered, exceeding Cyclone Bola in its ferocity.
"All efforts and resources were fully focused on getting the power restored to the 150,000 customers affected at the height of the storm."
Mr Mackenzie said that within the first 24 hours the company experienced 168 high-voltage outages on its network.
Most of the faults were in Rodney and the North Shore.
"Up to 500 field staff were working around the clock in extremely challenging conditions to manage our storm response," Mr Mackenzie said.
"The safety of these workers and the public was an absolute priority and at times crews were stood down as the conditions were too dangerous to continue working."
Mr Mackenzie said nine helicopters were needed to help reinstall power cables, lift heavy power poles and remove fallen trees in often remote and difficult areas.
- NZPA
