Around 236 homes remain without power after a fast-moving storm brought hail, lightning, and wind gusts to parts of south Canberra, damaging the electricity network.
Evoenergy, which owns and operates the ACT electricity network, reports that at the height of the storm, around 3,858 properties were without power across South Canberra. As of 4pm today, 236 customers remain without power.
“We are working to restore power as quickly and safely as possible, however expect some properties will remain without power until late tomorrow,” said Evoenergy acting group manager customer delivery Bronwen Butterfield. She said the damage to the electricity network is localised, but complex for our crews to repair.
“It’s not unusual at this time of year for us to have storms impact our network but we are seeing more situations like on Sunday night, with shorter and more intense storms that leave behind significant and complex damage to our network,” Ms Butterfield said.
“A common factor between these storms is that much of the damage is a result of trees falling on powerlines – some of them uprooted from the ground.
“At this stage, we have 236 customers that remain without power, including 14 customers that are registered with life support equipment at their property, and around 70 individual jobs that we’re working through methodically.
“We had crews out last night and into the early hours of the morning working to make safe and restore power. Our priority at daylight this morning was to continue to make safe and continue to assess all reports of network damage,” she said.
“Today we have been prioritising repairs in Wanniassa, Gilmore, Fisher, Gowrie, Rivett, Holder, Fadden, Chapman, Stirling, Kambah, and Stirling and our focus tomorrow will be making repairs in Torrens, Duffy, Holder, Wanniassa, Kambah, Rivett, Macarthur, Weetangara, Deakin, Chapman, Gowrie, Fadden, Farrer, Wanniassa, Stirling, Fisher, McKellar, Kingston, Chapman, Chisholm, Duffy. We are also rotating our crews to manage fatigue so we can work as safely and quickly as possible.
“We know that it is difficult having the power off for an extended period, and I want to reassure everyone impacted that we are committed to getting the job done. We have texted 225 customers (those that have mobile numbers recorded with us) to plan to be without power again this evening and tomorrow whilst we continue repairing damage to our network.
“If you want to, and if it’s possible, we recommend you temporarily stay elsewhere. If you are remaining at home without power, please stay safe and visit our website for tips on what to do when the power is off.”
For information about what to do when the power is off, visit www.evoenergy.com.au/outages
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