Update on power outages across Victoria’s south west and west

Update 5pm

Powercor and CitiPower crews will continue working throughout the evening to repair storm damage and restore power to about 1500 homes and businesses across parts of Victoria’s south west, central and western regions.

Over the past 24 hours, we have restored power to more than 55,000 customers, as severe winds of up to 110kmh brought down trees and branches and damaged parts of the the power network.

We are currently responding to more than 320 faults, including 30 fallen powerlines.

We know how difficult it is to be without power, especially in these cold conditions, and our team is working as quickly as possible to safely get power back on.

We expect to be able to restore power to most customers today.

Given the extent of the network damage and high number of faults we are responding to, there will be a small number of customers in the Warrnambool, Terang and Portland areas who will be still off power into tomorrow.  We will keep people updated via SMS and our outage map at Powercor.com.au

If people do see a fallen powerline, they should always stay well away from them and report them to us immediately on 13 24 12.

Current customer numbers off supply as at 4.45pm include:

 

Warrnambool	739
Portland	160
Geelong	130
Terang	147
Horsham	126

Update 1.15pm

Powercor and CitiPower crews have restored power to more than 54,000 customers and are working to get power back on to about 6,144 customers as damaging winds continue.

Severe winds have brought down trees and branches, causing damage to powerlines and other electricity infrastructure.

We are currently responding to more than 360 faults, including 83 fallen powerlines.

Extra crews have been deployed in the hardest hit areas, including Warrnambool, Portland and surrounding regions, and are conducting repairs.

We have also increased the number of control room operators, customer centre representatives and other resources as we focus on getting power back on to our customers as safely and quickly as possible

If people do see a fallen powerline, they should always stay well away from them and report them to us immediately on 13 24 12.

While we expect to get power back on to most customers today, given the extent of the damage and the ongoing storm front, there will be some customers who are still off power into tomorrow. We will keep people updated via SMS and our outage map at Powercor.com.au

We thank all impacted customers for their patience and assure them our focus is on getting power restored quickly.

The strong winds are expected to remain throughout the afternoon and into the evening, so we are asking our customers to take the steps they need to prepare for power outages.

 

Update – 10.15am

Powercor and CitiPower crews are working to restore power to more than 18,800 homes and businesses across western Victoria and the south west coast as destructive winds push through the state.

With the severe conditions continuing as the weather front moves across the state, we are urging people to take steps to prepare in case power outages do occur.

Overnight and into this morning, winds of up to 110 km/hr have hit parts of the network, bringing down trees and branches over power poles and wires.

We have extra crews on the ground assessing the damage and conducting repairs to the power network.

We are currently responding to more than 300 faults, including 66 fallen powerlines. If people do see a fallen powerline, they should always stay well away from them and report them to us immediately on 13 24 12.

The hardest hit areas are the Warrnambool, Portland and surrounding regions.

Current customer numbers off supply as at 10.15am

Warrnambool	8241
Terang	570
Portland	3539
Geelong	404
Ararat	983
Apollo Bay	381

At this stage, we expect to get power back on to most customers today and will keep them updated via SMS and on our outage map at Powercor.com.au

 

Advice for preparing for power outages

 

Be Safe.

• Have a back-up plan ready if you rely on life support equipment or need electrical items to care for babies, the disabled, elderly or pets.
• Plan to keep food safe. Set your fridge to 5 degrees (5^oC) or below.  An unopened fridge will keep food for about four hours.
• Have plenty of drinking water available if your supply relies on power.

Be Smart.

• Download the VicEmergency app and keep emergency phone numbers handy.
• Know how to connect computers and tablets to your mobile phone’s hotspot.
• Back-up computer files.
• Know how to open electric garage doors and gates manually.

Be Ready.

• Charge mobile phones, laptops and portable back-up batteries.
• If you have a rooftop solar system or a battery, check that it is able to operate in a power outage.
• If you plan to use a diesel generator, make sure it’s fully fuelled, operational and that you know how to safely operate it.
• Have a battery-powered radio available for real time news updates.
• Keep battery-powered lamps or torches handy.