ANOTHER prolonged power outage for some in South Gippsland comes just six months after the last severe storm and power outage.
Most outages were reported to AusNet early yesterday morning, yet hundreds remain without power over 24 hours later, despite AusNet predicting power would be restored by 6pm last night.
Thirty – eight in Leongatha are still without power this morning, 130 in Mirboo North, 32 between Stony Creek and Meeniyan, 77 in Pound Creek, 28 in Bena and 162 in Foster remain without power.
Wind gusts that hit South Gippsland yesterday causing trees to be uprooted and limbs to fall were measured at up to 83km/hr and are charted as a nine (out of 12) on the Beaufort scale, being classed as a strong gale.
Louise Simon Court in Leongatha bore the brunt of the town’s power outage, with falling tree branches causing power lines to come down, one of which is still lying alongside the road and across driveways, with others hanging low.
Save for a few witches hats that have been placed at the end of the court around the low hanging power lines, AusNet were not attendance.
Advice from energy Victoria recommends that people should stay more that 8 – 10 metres away from fallen power lines as they can be fatal. They should be treated as live even when they are broken and people should not go near them or anything they may be touching.
Yet the lines were within mere metres of people homes, who have to cross under or over them to go about their business.
An announcement from AusNet 12:30pm yesterday stated: More than 10,000 customers were without power as a result of 78 individual faults at the peak last night, and we anticipate having all those customers who were off supply overnight restored by 6pm today.
The wind continues to impact the network with new faults occurring all morning and early afternoon. The majority of outages are being caused by trees, branches and debris hitting powerlines. There are currently over 9,000 customers without power.
They also stated that:
The AusNet restoration crew is well-resourced, and we have over 400 people on the ground today responding to incidents.
Unfortunately, they haven’t yet responded to downed and dangerous powerlines on the ground in a residential street in Leongatha.
There will be a lull in winds today with some gusts picking up again tonight in South Gippsland and especially along the coast.
Damaging surf conditions and abnormally high tides are also possible again along the coast from late Friday and through the weekend, leading to a risk of further sea water flooding.
