E tū is issuing a plea for people to stop making false complaints about power outages, as lines crews work around the clock to reconnect Aucklanders after last week’s massive storm.

The common feedback from our members is that this is the most extensive damage they have seen resulting from large trees being ripped out of the ground and over the lines.

The power remains out in parts of West Auckland, with isolated outages in some suburbs.

E tū Industry Coordinator, Joe Gallagher says Vector and their contractors, Northpower and Electrix have brought in significant manpower from outside of the Auckland region and crews are working long hours to get the power back on.

“We’d congratulate our many members working on this. They’ve been working basically non- stop since last Tuesday,” says Joe.

“In some cases, guys have had to be stood down because they’ve reached their fatigue hours – they’re working about 70 hours a week.”

Joe says the public is largely supportive of the crews and while most call-outs are genuine, some are not and that has put pressure on everyone working to reconnect Aucklanders.

“Some people ring up, saying, “Our power’s out,” only to find that the main switch was left off at the meter board as a safety precaution by private electricians. So, the crews turn up, and there’s no problem. But every time that happens, they can’t respond to someone else who needs their help.

“I would appeal to these people – do some basic checks first. You wouldn’t call an ambulance if it’s not an emergency, so consider if you really need help,” says Joe.

Joe says the safety of the crews on the ground is absolutely paramount for all concerned.

ENDS

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