Power restored to 650 homes

Power has been restored to 650 Northpower customers, leaving less than 1000 without power.

Crews unable to get a vehicle fully to site, walked in gear to repair a pole and downed line at Pataua North – restoring power to 312 locals.

Trade specialist Richard Ashby says while the job was difficult – high winds making it particularly challenging – seeing lights come on in surrounding homes was a great finish to the job.

Power has also been restored to 94 customers in Tangowahine Valley, 36 customers at Darch Point (Whangarei Heads), 73 customers at Waiotira, 80 customers at Turiwiri/Mititai and 60 customers at Bickerstaff Road (Maungaturoto).

Numerous other areas in the Kaipara and Whangarei Districts are being worked on now. There are just 500 customers on Northpower’s high voltage network without power and a similar number of low voltage customers impacted.

Flooding and high winds continue to prevent some repairs being undertaken.

With more rain and high winds forecast, Northpower warns there could be additional outages to contend with across the network over the next two days.

Meantime, crews attempting to repair an 11,000 volt downed line at Opouteke Road, near Twin Bridges, were forced to delay completion of the job when they discovered 300m of copper line had been stolen.

Throughout the latest storm Northpower has issued repeated warnings for locals to stay clear of downed powerlines and says it is disappointed people would risk their life in an attempt to make some money.

There is every possibility that the line could have been live, so the company is again stressing the common sense approach around electricity network safety, says Public Affairs Manager Steve Macmillan.

“Lines crews throughout the country have to be vigilant with their safety in such challenging conditions so they can do their best for the wellbeing of the community during a time of so many outages due to downed powerlines. The public needs to act accordingly.”

People still without power should call Northpower faults on 0800-10-40-40, while those in need of medical assistance should phone 111 immediately.

If anyone know of someone without power (who may also be without phone lines or cellphone reception), Northpower is happy to be advised.

ENDS

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