Damaged powerlines at a section north of Whangamatā. Photo / Supplied
Damaged powerlines at a section north of Whangamatā. Photo / Supplied
More than 8600 people in the Coromandel and Western Bay of Plenty areas remain without electricity tonight following storm damage to power lines.
The storm that ripped through the region overnight initially cut power to almost 13,500 homes.
Provider Powerco is warning people “should prepare to be without power overnight”from Sunday evening to Monday morning.
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 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.
“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,” says Powerco’s Head of Network Operations, Mark Dunn.
Damage to a section of line north of Whangamatā. Photo / PowerCo
The repair job is a big one for a company that provides power and gas to over 900,000 customers across the North Island.
“While we have had extra crews join the restoration today, we have multiple poles and lines down in a number of locations.
“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,” said Dunn.
