Power Restoration Continues After Cyclone Cook Slams Hawke’s Bay

Friday 14 April 2017, 7.45am – Around 15,000 customers are without power across Hawke’s Bay after a large number of power lines were damaged by last night’s brutal storm.

Unison Relationship Manager, Danny Gough said the majority of the outages were caused by trees and debris falling into power lines as well as some fallen power poles and lines.

“When the worst of the weather passed at around 10 pm last night, we were able to send crews out to start restoring power to major feeders.

“With the weather now clear, we have had crews out at first light to begin clean-up and repairs to the network. However, the damage is severe and fallen trees are blocking roads, so it’s going to take some time to work through it all. Customers should still be prepared for long periods without power.”

Unison has brought extra crews into the region and has helicopters out to assess the full extent of the damage.

It is asking customers to listen to the radio for updates, follow its Facebook page and visit the website for updates: http://www.unison.co.nz/outages as call volumes into its call centre are significant.

Danny says Unison’s biggest concern was safety with some power lines down and reminded customers to remain vigilant, to always treat lines as live, and to be prepared that the power can come on unexpectedly, so should be treated with caution.

“When there is this much damage, our priority is to ensure that CBDs, businesses and industrial customers are connected first, then residential customers and those in rural areas.

“We are really grateful for all the understanding our customers are showing and just want to assure everyone we are doing all we can to get people back on as soon as possible. While Cyclone Cook was short-lived, it was also very destructive as we were warned, and Hawke’s Bay has certainly felt its wrath.”

Danny said the network in Taupo and Rotorua had held up well at this stage.

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