Cyclone Alfred power outages: Nearly 110,000 Gold Coast homes left in dark
Hope is on the horizon for Gold Coasters cut off from electricity, with crews getting thousand back on the grid despite difficult conditions, with cheers in one badly-affected suburb when power came back on.
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Hope is on the horizon for thousands of Gold Coast homes and businesses still lacking power as Energex crews on Sunday continued to connect customers back to the grid despite difficult weather conditions.
Gold Coasters were being told that it could be a number of days before power was restored after Cyclone Alfred caused outages as early as Thursday night in some areas.
At noon on Sunday, close to 110,000 Gold Coast homes and businesses were without power, down from a high of more than 130,000 on Saturday. By 5.15pm that number had shrunk again to 81,407.
Among those reconnected were Coolangatta residents who had been among the first to lose power.
Cheers rang out in Coolangatta streets late Sunday afternoon when the power came back on.
Apartments lining the beachfront were filled with people coming out on to balconies whistling and celebrating the return of electricity.
Local Ali Archdeacon posted footage of celebrations to social media with the caption “Aussies are something special.”
Resident Denisa commented: “I was in tears when it came back on, thanks Energex workers.”
Sarah Doe added: “Need to organise a street parade celebration for all the energex, SES and other services that have worked so hard over the last few days.”
Energex spokesman Danny Donald said crews have restored power for around 40,000 customers in the last few days, with Coolangatta one of the latest suburbs to have most of the lights back on.
“It’s a case of doing the fault finding and shooting crews out to find each fault,” he said about Coolangatta.
It’s been a massive task for emergency crews that Queensland Premier David Crisafulli acknowledged in a Sunday press conference.
“I want to reflect on how big a task it is for the electricity network,” he said.
“Since the start of this event, we are looking at somewhere in the order of 450,000 homes and businesses that have had power loss.
“It’s been a really challenging day of rain and wind and [crews] are working to reconnect that power and I just think there’s a state that’s deeply grateful for that.”
Mr Donald said that the Gold Coast gets storms every year that Energex responds to.
“Emergency response is the bread and butter of our crews but this is it on a grand scale,” he said.
“This is more of a marathon than a sprint but this is what they train for, what they do every day.”
Wild winds, torrential rain and access to areas have made it difficult for crews to get some homes back on the grid.
“We’ll get them all back up and running,” Mr Donald said.
“It’s just what they do.”
EARLIER:
Gold Coasters cut off from the grid by Cyclone Alfred have been warned it could be a number of days before power is restored, with ongoing wind and rain slowing reconnection efforts.
Outages started in the city on Thursday night and by Sunday afternoon at 12pm, close to 110,000 Gold Coast homes and businesses were still without power.
Southport had suffered the most outages with 5,201 people impacted and various traffic lights not operating.
Energex spokesman Danny Donald said he couldn’t put an exact date for when all of the Gold Coast would have power, with wind and flooding rains causing access issues for crews trying to return properties to the network.
“We have 250 staff down at the Gold Coast at the moment,” he said.
“Our bucket traps are out but at this stage, we’ve got to bring them back down because the winds are a bit dangerous at the moment.”
He said that when power would return to Gold Coast homes was dependent on the weather and access to areas.
Hard to access areas with flooding, landslips and trees across the roads are likely to be without power the longest.
Mr Donald said that Energex had planned to send helicopters out into hard to reach Hinterland areas to assess the damage from the sky but weather conditions had grounded the choppers.
“When the weather clears and we can get a bit of clear skies, we will go out to assess,” he said.
Crews have been working to restore power to homes across the Coast with power restored to the Gold Coast University Hospital on Saturday and most of the water treatment plants.
Mr Donald said Energex was on Sunday working on restoring power to the Mudgeeraba Water Treatment Plant.
“In the Gold Coast, we have 634 wires that crews currently are working on,” he said.
“Since yesterday we restored nearly 30,000 people back to the network.”
EARLIER
Thousands of Gold Coasters are set to be without power for at least days, as ex-tropical cyclone Alfred plunged more than 130,000 Gold Coast homes into darkness.
Outages on the Coast started on Thursday night and affected tens of thousands of homes, but by Saturday morning at 10am, close to 290,000 homes and business across south east Queensland were without power, the majority on the Gold Coast.
In the lead up to Alfred’s landfall in the early hours of Saturday howling wind and rain pounded the city, leaving Energex crews facing a Herculean task in the days ahead.
The Gold Coast had more than 131,000 outages, whilst Redland City had 46,000, Brisbane 46,000, Logan 42,000, Moreton Bay Regional Council area 10,500, Scenic Rim 5000, Ipswich 1100 and 250 on the Sunshine Coast.
The Gold Coast University Hospital is among major buildings disconnected but is currently running off a generator.
Energex spokesman Danny Donald said as long as the elements were still pummelling the city, it was not safe for crews to start repairing the damage.
“We’ve now eclipsed the outages of the 2023 Christmas tornado,” he said.
On Friday, Energex suspended their repair works.
“We’ve suspended all repair work and restoration work on the Gold Coast and the Moreton Bay islands, and this is going to eventually occur right across South East Queensland as the winds start to get worse,” Mr Donald said.
“If you’re on the Gold Coast or southern Moreton Bay islands and you lose power today, we won’t be starting restoration until after the cyclone passes and it becomes safe.
“If we really get hit hard, some areas may be without power for well more than a week, so people must be prepared at home to be without power for at least a week.
“It’s just as frustrating for our crews as it is for the community.”
He reminded residents who are looking to start cleaning their gardens to be hyper-vigilant about any powerlines tangled in branches or debris.
Some residents reported hearing big bangs and seeing a bright blue flash before the power went out.
“When debris strikes high voltage you’ll get a big flash,” Mr Donald said.
“People might see more of that in the coming days.”
He said downed powerlines could represent a serious safety hazard and were another good reason to stay indoors.
“If people see lines down, they should stay well clear,” he said.
“Just because lines are down does not mean that power has been cut.
“It is best to assume that lines are still live and report them.”
In an update on Friday, Deputy Mayor Donna Gates said downed lines could be reported by calling 13 19 62. In a life-threatening emergency residents are urged to call Triple 0.
On social media, some residents reported they had also lost water.
A Gold Coast City Council spokeswoman said water briefly went out for some residents in Currumbin on Thursday night, but crews were able to restore water the same night.
She said residents to lose water in the next few days might not be so lucky, as the council also made the decision to prioritise staff safety.
More essential infrastructure is likely to be lost as trees fall and wild weather continues to pound the Gold Coast, she said.
“City crews are not able to respond to impacts from TC Alfred at this time due to safety concerns,” the GCCC spokeswoman said.
“Crews will respond to priority incidents as soon as it is safe to do so.
“Please report any damage to trees, roads or sewerage and water infrastructure to cityofgoldcoast.com.au/ReportAProblem or via the City of Gold Coast App.
“It may take days or weeks to respond to all reported impacts.”
Residents up the top levels of Gold Coast high-rises reported having a wild ride, saying towers were “trembling” and “vibrating” as Cyclone Alfred blew in.
There were also reports of significant flooding, with City of Gold Coast advising people in the Currumbin Catchment there was “dangerous, wide-spread, fast-moving and unpredictable flooding” occurring near Currumbin Creek.
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Originally published as Cyclone Alfred power outages: Nearly 110,000 Gold Coast homes left in dark
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