11 November 2022
Recent storm a good reminder to always be prepared for power outages
The most recent Northland storm event is a good reminder of the importance of being prepared for power outages.
“On Thursday night high winds and heavy rain bought down trees into lines and damaged equipment, causing numerous faults on the main high voltage lines, as well as damage to low voltage and customer owned service lines.” said Josie Boyd Network COO.
“Dozens of our staff have been out across the network fixing the storm damage and working with customers to get their supply back on. On Saturday morning, weather permitting, Northpower will have a low flying helicopter in the air across Whangarei and Kaipara to inspect critical and difficult to access lines to ensure there is no damage or other risks from this event that may cause future outages.”
Damage over winter
This winter has been wetter than usual, and we’ve seen higher-than-normal levels of equipment damage. This latest bout of heavy rain could contribute to land subsidence that may undermine our poles and other equipment. Customers are asked to keep an eye out for any damage to equipment, trees in lines, lines down or land subsidence near our poles – give us a call at 0800 10 40 40 to report any issues and please treat lines as live at all times and stay well back.
“Staying ahead of subsidence is a routine part of managing our network. A key location we’re monitoring is a tower on the Western Hills, on the lines that feed our substation at Kensington and the wider Whangarei area. We’ve been working through alternatives for that tower as we’ve seen some subsidence there in the past, and we’ll be working with our geotechnical consultants to check the impact of this latest weather and will adjust our plans if required. It’s all part of taking a proactive approach,” added Andrew McLeod, Northpower CE.
These storm events highlight that it is a good idea to always be prepared for an outage. This includes keeping a full gas bottle for the BBQ, a torch handy, your devices charged and drinking water available. The Civil Defence Get Ready website has some more helpful tips on how to prepare.