Households waking up without power as wild weather batters SA
More than 3000 customers remain without power today after fierce winds and driving rain pummelled the state.
SA News
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More than 3000 South Australians are still without power following Tuesday’s wild weather that swept the state.
The SA Power Networks website shows there are around 50 active outages with the northeastern suburbs and the hills reporting the highest number of customers affected in Adelaide, including 277 near Cherryville and 260 in Athelston.
In the city, glass panels have fallen from a multistorey building in Gawler Place, smashing all over the road.
Meanwhile, cars have been damaged after a large crane’s main boom snapped at a construction site at Hackney.
Meanwhile, State Emergency Service (SES) responded to around 415 calls for assistance throughout the storm, as the big clean-up continues.
An SES spokesperson told ABC Radio Adelaide the callers predominantly reported fallen trees and power lines.
“We are already getting some calls from residents who have woken up with damage,” the spokesperson said.
“But, I’m not aware of anyone having to move out of their home due to structure damage.”
SA Power Networks spokesperson Paul Roberts said the organisation received 600 outage reports.
“Around 35,000 customers lost power and the last 4000 will be the hardest to restore,” he said.
“Crews have to do the same amount of work to restore power to one person or to a group of people and we’ve got dozens and dozens of smaller outages across the metropolitan area.
“There were also 90 reports of wires down and the safety of the community is our first priority.”
The weather is not expected to worsen today, with Adelaide set to reach a top of 22C with a shower or two.
The storm has shut down many roads on Kangaroo Island, including the island’s main road to the ferry terminal.
A drainage culvert is flooded on Hog Bay Road at Haines, about halfway between Kingscote and Penneshaw.
Just before 4am this morning, a vehicle attempted to cross the flooded culvert and became stuck.
The driver was not injured and was helped from his vehicle by a passing motorist.
Detours are in place, however police are advising motorists to take care due to flooding and fallen trees.
Sealink is aware of the closure and is notifying ferry passengers.
Part of Greenhill Rd between Glynburn Rd and Gartell St and Hackney Rd near Vailima Ct at Hackney are also closed while emergency services clear fallen power lines.
At the height of the storm on Tuesday, more than 13,000 South Australians were left without power, including a southern suburbs shopping centre left in the dark.
About 7.30pm, SA Power Networks said 48 outages were affecting 9,063 customers with 1400 of those in Blair Athol, Clearview, Enfield and Prospect.
Fulham, Lockleys, Flagstaff Hill, Cherryville, Aldinga Beach and Blair Athol, as well as Paralowie, Salisbury and Salisbury North have been significantly impacted, while shoppers at Westfield Marion are also among those left in the dark.
An SA Power Networks spokesman said additional crews had been deployed to restore power as quickly as possible, beginning with the outages impacting the most customers.
Customers will be updated via SMS with an estimated restoration time as crews assess how to restore power.
The outages had been caused “pretty much universally” by significant winds and vegetation, the spokesman said.
People are being urged to stay 10 metres clear of downed power lines for their own safety.
The State Emergency Service (SES) responded to about 70 calls between 2.30 and 3.30pm on Tuesday, with trees toppling across the metropolitan area.
One forced the closure of the O-Bahn track in both directions between Paradise and Tea Tree Plaza, while traffic was blocked on Kelly Rd at Modbury North by a massive fallen branch.
One Burnside resident described an enormous uprooted tree which smashed a car and burst a water main as “like a lightning strike”, saying he was looking out his Glen St window when it came down.
Yahya Basman, who rents the property with his wife and two young daughters, aged 10 and 11, said branches often fell and damaged the roof of his home.
A nearby property on Greenhill Rd was also crushed when a large grey box tree uprooted from the council pathway.
Resident Tania Clarke was at work when she received a FaceTime call from her son after the tree crashed down between the garage and front spare room, crushing the roof and piercing through the ceiling.
“He said, you’re not going to believe this mum’,” Ms Clarke said. “I was a little bit in shock.”
Ms Clarke said her neighbours had previously expressed concerns about the tree’s structural integrity and falling trees were not uncommon in the Burnside area.
“They asked the council to do something and they didn’t do anything,” she said.
Burnside Council CEO Chris Cowley said the regulated mature grey box tree had been inspected and trimmed in 2017 following a resident request, and again in February where “no notable defects were found”.
Mr Cowley said the cause of collapse would be determined by an independent arborist and said it was possible it had fallen as a result of “today’s unprecedented high wind gusts”.
At Leabrook, former CFS employee Bruce Martin said he was forced to redirect traffic after a mass of thick branches collapsed onto high voltage power lines on
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