7.00am, 6 July 2013

Strong winds and trees on lines cut power

Power was cut to 9,800 Orion customers in the early hours of this morning as strong winds affected power lines across Orion's electricity distribution network. Most power cuts were due to trees or branches falling onto power lines.

Affected customers are in the area south west of Christchurch which includes parts of Lincoln, Prebbleton, Leeston, Southbridge and Annat. There are also some smaller outages throughout Christchurch city and on Banks Peninsula.

"Emergency crews worked throughout the night on critical faults and more crews joined them at first light today," says Orion chief executive Rob Jamieson. "We will continue to work as quickly and safely as we can in difficult conditions, and hope to have at least half of the power supply restored to customers by noon today. The power cuts are scattered across our network, so it takes some time to find and fix each fault, particularly in the rural areas."

"If you see a fallen power line, or a tree on a power line, please stay well clear and call us immediately on 0800 363 9898."

ENDS

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