11,000 Auckland homes still without power, heavy thundery rain on the way

Friday, 13 April 2018

The power outages displayed on Vector's website following the storm earlier this month.

About 11,000 Auckland homes are still without power following Tuesday night's storm, as the weather is set to deteriorate again.

Lines company Vector said North Shore residents keen for a hot shower should brace for a 'big disappointment' with hot water pilot line restoration pushed back 'well into next week' while high voltage lines and isolated homes were reconnected.

Auckland's North Shore has a different hot water system to the rest of Auckland, Vector chief executive Simon Mackenzie said.

'All we can do is reiterate we continue to have out-of-town field crews on to bolster our own crews and ensure we can work around the clock to restore power as fast as humanly possible.'

**READ MORE:

A car squashed by a fallen tree during Tuesday night's storm remains on New North Rd three days on.

* Aucklanders without power nearly 48 hours on from storm, and more strong winds on the way

* Auckland's Cornwall Park a 'bomb site' after storm fells several giant trees

Giant trees were uprooted in Auckland's Cornwall Park after the powerful storm on Tuesday night.

* Community stoic in the face of power cuts and storm damage

* Auckland storm: why were we so unprepared?

* Auckland's history of power cuts**

Storm damage to its network was the worst since at least 2007, Mackenzie said.

MetService on Friday issued a severe weather watch for heavy rain across parts of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel and western Bay of Plenty.

Outbreaks of heavy and possibly thundery rain with localised downpours were forecast from 9pm on Friday.

The most intense rainfall, and the highest rainfall accumulations, were expected to affect Auckland mainly south of the city, MetService said.

Auckland was hit with hurricane force winds on Tuesday night which downed trees and knocked out power to 180,000 homes at the height of the storm.

Crews had been working on restoration through Thursday night, bringing the number down from 22,750 at 9pm to 11,000 by 4pm on Friday.

Many embattled West Auckland residents had woken up on Thursday to either no power, or restored power but no hot water.

Vector's outage app showed Glen Eden and Titirangi residents would be unlikely to have power restored before 10pm on Saturday.

The first few days were like camping or 'a festival with no music', one local said.

But as they headed into the third day without power, many were concerned about their septic systems and hot water supply.

ADDITIONAL OUTAGES OVERNIGHT

A Vector spokesman said there had been additional feeder outages overnight on Thursday.

Vector prioritised getting large groups of customers back on by isolating where the individual fault lay, then back feeding power to the group.

This leaves smaller numbers of customers without power and their individual faults to be resolved, the spokesman said.

'In most cases we've been able to partially restore customers through isolating the fault and relivening where possible.'

Crews were continuing to restore power, having called in reinforcements from as far away as Palmerston North and Wellington, the spokesman said.

Residents would be provided updates on a suburb-by-suburb level, he said.

'We acknowledge the extraordinary patience and understanding of our customers and reiterate that we do know you're waiting, and we will get to you.'

On Friday evening, a substation in West Auckland became overloaded during the evening peak, resulting in 'a large number' of additional households without power, the spokesman said.

All of those households were expected to have their power restored later on Friday night.

THE CLEAN UP CONTINUES

Debris, trees and branches are still scattered along roads and footpaths across 'virtually' every Auckland street.

Auckland Council arboriculture and ecology regional manager Bruce Edwards said council contractors are expected to work around-the-clock into Monday making roads safe.

'Virtually every street in Auckland has some level of tree damage.'

Since Tuesday, the council's contact centre received more than 2000 calls relating to downed trees – more than it received in an average month, council's head of operational management and maintenance Agnes McCormack said.

In New North Rd in Mt Albert, a crushed car remained on the side of the road under a fallen tree, draped in emergency tape.

The tree fell on the car in high winds about 9.30pm on Tuesday night, trapping the driver, who was later taken to hospital with minor injuries.

One section of the tree had also smashed into a house.

McCormack said the council was prioritising jobs that pose immediate safety issues, 'where trees have brought down, have fallen on houses, or are preventing people from getting in and out of their driveways'.

The downed tree on New North Rd – which she said did not pose an immediate safety risk – was one of many jobs across the city that they are working with contractors to resolve.

Crews were on site on Friday clearing the rest of the tree.

Contractors were working in shifts to respond to urgent callouts, and would continue to do so until Monday, McCormack said.

ROADS REMAIN CLOSED

Central Auckland

- Temple St, Meadowbank is closed

- Pilkington Rd, Mt Wellington is closed between Torino St and Tripoli Rd

South Auckland

- The corner of Marine Rd and Settlement Rd in Papakura is closed

- Adams Drive in Pukekohe is closed, near Keith Place

LOOKING FORWARD

Auckland is in for a showery weekend, MetService meteorologist Hannah Moes said.

Aucklanders could expect the odd shower passing through on Friday, before a trough bringing rain moves east across the region by the evening.

The front is likely to be accompanied by heavy rain, she said.

There is a low risk of some thunderstorms in much of Auckland, Coromandel, Waikato and the far west of the Bay of Plenty.

Moes said the front would close in on the region around 9pm, and deteriorate overnight.

The trough would linger throughout Auckland on Saturday making for a wet day, before breaking up Sunday.

Though thunder was forecast, it would not be the same kind of activity Aucklanders experienced on Tuesday, she said.

FOCUS ON ISOLATED COMMUNITIES

Close to 7000 of litres of water has been distributed to people without access to it.

Residents living in Auckland's west coast communities Piha and Karekare have been without water since the storm hit on Tuesday.

Dragicevich said 1200 1.5 litre bottles of water had been delivered to the isolated communities on Friday.

'Anyone in Piha who is unable to get water by other means can go and pick up bottled water from the Piha Fire Station,' he said.

He has assured residents if the power doesn't come back on soon the water supplies would be replenished.

Auckland Emergency Management had also delivered 35 portaloos to affected households.

With a severe thunderstorm and weather watch issued for Auckland over the weekend, Dragicevich reminded people to keep an eye on the weather.

'Secure loose outdoor items and clear your gutters.'

He said people should be checking in on their neighbours, friends and family to see if they need any help.

'Think about what they need, and if power continues to be out over the weekend consider offering space in your home.'