PowerNet staff have been responding to unprecedented wind damage to our networks throughout South Otago and Southland today – and we are still working to understand the full extent of the problems.

We are managing some incredibly dangerous situations including dozens of power poles and lines down on roads, trees fallen onto lines, and broken or snapped power poles.

Tens of thousands of homes, businesses, and key facilities are without power, many of which are likely to be without power overnight.

Our top priority is keeping communities and our people safe. That means our crews are focussed on making damaged infrastructure like downed lines and poles safe, then restoring electricity to lifeline utilities like water supplies and water treatment plants.

While the winds have eased in some areas, the weather does continue to present a challenge for our teams to be able to safely repair damage.

It is possible that some customers may be without power well into the weekend, or longer, as the extent of the damage becomes clear.

We’ve had reports of members of the public attempting to disentangle trees from powerlines. If you come across downed lines, broken poles, or damaged infrastructure, please do not approach it or attempt to make the area safe yourself. This is incredibly dangerous and you must treat all of our infrastructure as live at all times.

Call 0800 808 587 and report significant damage such as downed lines, trees on lines or broken poles.

Please do not call to report that your power is out. We are aware our call centre is expecting huge call volumes, and we need to prioritise calls relating to emergencies.  Do not call to report that your power is out, we are aware.

If you are medically dependant on power, or there is a dangerous situation which means you do not feel safe, please call 111.