Thousands left without power
AN unusually slow- moving, large and powerful cyclone has delayed efforts to begin the massive task of restoring power to more than 58,000 households and businesses in North Queensland.
Last night power distributor Ergon Energy would not say when all of its 900- strong restoration crew, assembled at Townsville and Rockhampton, would swing into action.
But it is expected that task will begin today with crews already based in impact areas at Mackay, Airlie Beach and Bowen.
As of last night, 58,042 customers were without power.
The blackouts were spread across a wide area of North Queensland including Mackay Regional Council, Whitsundays Regional Council, Burdekin Shire Council, Isaac Regional Council, Charters Towers Regional Council and Townsville City Council.
Ergon customer delivery manager Mark Biffanti said Ergon’s restoration plan was well under way but restoration crews could not be sent to affected areas until it was safe to do so.
“The first step to restoring power is to assess our network for damage and make repairs,” Mr Biffanti said.
“Our assessment teams have been briefed and are preparing to deploy, but Tropical Cyclone Debbie has been an unusual event in terms of its sheer size and slow- moving nature.”
Mr Biffanti said there were also often issues about access created by debris and flooding.
“As soon as we get advice that it’s safe to move our prepositioned crews at staging posts in Townsville and Rockhampton, they will be on the road,” Mr Biffanti said.
About 900 field staff are po- sitioned at Townsville and Rockhampton with trucks and equipment. Crews are being drawn from across the State with the Townsville contingent including 200 Energex field staff from Brisbane.
Mr Biffanti said they appreciated people would be anxious about being without power.
“But we ask them to be patient and understand that we can’t put our crew in harm’s way,” he said.
“To support the restoration teams we also have large generators available across the State to help get power back on to our customers.
“We have ( generation) units in Bowen, Townsville and Mackay and other large units pre- positioned in Home Hill, Proserpine, Ayr and Bowen.”
An Ergon spokesman also reminded residents to keep well away from fallen powerlines and treat them as “live”.
He said people should contact Ergon Energy only to report potential life- threatening emergencies such as lines down or other network danger by calling 000 or 13 16 70.