Video transcript:

The question everyone is asking, and it’s a very fair question, is how long will the restoration take? I’d like to talk about that. I’ll split it up into the two areas – Southland and Otago.

In Southland, we’re not yet at the stage of mapping out all the jobs and what day they will happen. But at the current run rate, we think we’re likely to have the majority of people on in Southland by Thursday (November 6). There will be some stragglers where the damage has been so significant that it will carry on past that, but the majority we think [will be back on] by Thursday.

Otago is a little different. We’ve had to cut away quite a few areas to make it safe, and now we have to go back. We think Otago will take a couple of extra days into the weekend. Once we’ve finished in Southland, we will send those people up to Otago to help out with the restoration.

One of the concerns we have is that there are people out there who won’t have told us they don’t have power. We don’t have access to all smart meters. So if you don’t have power or your neighbour doesn’t have power, please look out for each other and contact emergency management if you need help. But also contact us – our phone lines are open, we are able to take calls. If you don’t have power and you don’t think we know, please call us.

The last thing I want to talk about is customer owned lines. If you have lines on your property that you own that have significant damage, can you please get an electrician to fix those first. We can’t liven onto unsafe premises so for example if a barge board has had its wire ripped out, can you please get that finished first.

Key actions for customers

If you:

• Don’t have power and don’t think we know, please contact us by filling out our online individual property fault form or call 0800 808 587.

• Have damage to the customer lines on your property, get this fixed by an electrician.

For help or welfare support please call:

• 0800 890 127 if you live in Southland
• 0800 801 350 to contact the Clutha District Council
• 0800 787 254 for the Rural Support Trust