Ergon crews expect to have power restored to most Far North customers
Power has been restored to nearly 42,000 homes across the Far North since Cyclone Niran’s winds lashed the region, with a few remaining works delayed by fallen trees. LIST: WHAT’S AFFECTED
Cairns
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POWER has been restored to nearly 42,000 homes across the Far North since Cyclone Niran’s winds lashed the region, with a few remaining works delayed by fallen trees.
Cyclone Niran has intensified to a Category 3 storm but it is moving away from the coast and the cyclone warning for the Far North has now been cancelled.
Here is a list of what’s affected across the region.
Power outages
THURSDAY 8AM: Ergon Energy says just 250 Far North customers remain without power.
A spokeswoman said crews were working to restore the final homes and businesses.
WEDNESDAY 8PM: An Ergon spokeswoman has said most Far North customers will have power restored this evening.
As of 7.30pm, there were still 890 customers off supply south of Cairns, 250 at Yarrabah and 26 around Cowley, El Arish, Innisfail and Sundown, with crews working through the night.
The spokeswoman said in the 48 hours since the heavy winds from the tropical low hit the area, Ergon teams have restored power to nearly 42,000 homes.
“It’s been a massive effort to repair hundreds of damaged sections and essentially rebuild several chunks of the network where big trees and debris caused severe damage,” she said.
“This afternoon, we had to pull crews back from a repair job near Aloomba and Fishery Falls when a large tree partly fell and threatened the safety of the site where the teams were working.
“Contractors will remove the falling tree overnight and we’ll be back bright and early in the morning to safely complete repairs and restore supply.”
Boaties have been warned to avoid the area of the Russell River where it meets the Mulgrave River, as powerlines are down across the area.
WEDNESDAY 3.50PM: Gordonvale residents who still don’t have power could have some good news by tonight.
About 4500 customers remain without power across the region after more than 43,000 were initially hit when wild weather lashed the region on Monday.
An Ergon spokeswoman said at Gordonvale, there was damage to all of the main supply lines to the community, but crews were working to reconnect the vast majority of customers still without power in this area by tonight.
“In some areas where poles and wires have come down, crews have had to essentially rebuild the network,” she said.
Crews at Yarrabah have been restringing powerlines and access to some work sites remains challenging for crews.
TUESDAY: Hundreds of clean-up and power restoration crew members from across the Far North will work until “last light” to restore power to as many homes as possible.
About 34,000 homes had been restored by 6pm Tuesday with 9000 customers remaining without power — down from a peak of 43,000 on Monday.
Ergon Energy’s emergency planning manager Geoff McGraw on Tuesday said crews were mobilised from Cairns, Innisfail, Tully and the Tablelands.
“Down at Gordonvale then towards Innisfail (is the worst hit),” Mr McGraw said.
“We’ve got teams assessing that damage. Some of it is inaccessible … we’re having some difficulties.
“We try our best to get as much done before last light. If we can’t complete that, we’ll start that first thing in the morning.”
He urged residents to show patience and understanding.
“We understand that it’s a really difficult time losing power for these periods of time,” he said.
“We just ask you to be patient. The crews are doing everything they can when it’s safe to do so.
“There’s a lot of debris and vegetation and we need to clear that first.”
“While crews are working to restore power to the majority of customers today, it will take longer to fix damage in the worst-hit areas,” she said.
About 150 powerlines down were brought down in Monday’s wild weather and about 30 feeder lines were damaged.
“With so many life-threatening faults, including fallen powerlines, the priority yesterday was to make areas safe for the community and pave the way for network repairs and restoration,” a spokeswoman said.
The outages are impacting residents from Cairns to the Cassowary Coast and west to the Atherton Tablelands.
All schools reopen
All Far North schools have now reopened after the wild weather earlier this week.
St Michael’s School at Gordonvale was the only Catholic school which did not reopen on Wednesday, but power has now returned and the school is open Thursday.
All Catholic schools barring those in Weipa and the Torres Strait closed on Tuesday due to the threat of wild weather.
Catholic Education Services Executive Director Bill Dixon said the decision to reopen schools would be reviewed if weather conditions deteriorated further but the expert advice was this was unlikely.
“We thank our school communities – staff, students and families – for their understanding and support in responding to this emergency event,” he said.
Six Far North state schools were also closed on Tuesday but all reopened Wednesday.
Telstra outages
A number of Telstra network sites have been impacted by wild weather, including at Mena Creek and Silkwood where customers were unable to contact Triple-0.
Other locations where sites have been impacted, resulting in the loss of mobile coverage, phone and internet include Earlville, Deeral, Edmonton, Gordonvale, Innisfail, Mourilyan, Kurrimine Beach, Malanda, Kuranda, Pin Gin Hill and Yarrabah.
“We are working hard to restore power to these sites by replenishing fuel for backup power generators where it is safe for power and field technicians to do so, and at present 19 physical mobile sites remain down due to a loss of power,” a Telstra spokesman said.
“We thank the community for their patience during a challenging time while we work hard to get everyone connected again.”
Airport and airlines monitoring weather
Passengers on a Jetstar flight from Brisbane to Cairns on Monday have been dealt a double blow as backup buses were left in limbo because of road closures.
Flight JQ930 was set to arrive at 2.50pm but was diverted to Townsville.
A company spokesman said they had arranged buses as an alternative to get customers to Cairns on Monday night.
“However due to road closures between Townsville and Cairns, these services were cancelled,” he said.
“All customers were provided with accommodation and meal vouchers last night in Cairns and the majority of customers will travel on alternative flights later today.
“We appreciate delays are frustrating and apologise to customers for the disruption to their travel plans but safety is our number one priority.”
A Qantas spokeswoman said their flights had not been impacted on Monday and Tuesday.
Virgin Australia has been contacted for updates.
On Monday night, spokesman Kris Taute said the last Virgin Australia flight VA797 was scheduled to depart Brisbane for Cairns at 7:50pm.
“The aircraft is expected to arrive in Cairns at 10:10pm this evening,” Mr Taute said.
“All other Virgin Australia services to and from Cairns today have operated in accordance with the schedule.
“In consultation with the Bureau of Meteorology, we are closely monitoring the weather situation in Far North Queensland.
“We recommend travellers check the latest flight status information on our website. If cancellations were to occur, we will notify customers by text message and email.”
Virgin Australia is also communicating with customers travelling from Cairns, Whitsunday Coast (Proserpine) and Hamilton Island on Tuesday, encouraging them to monitor their flight status on our website.
A Cairns Airport spokeswoman said operations had not been impacted but they were monitoring the situation.
Cyclone Niran hasn't even formed yet but looks like there will be some cleaning up to do... LATEST UPDATES: https://t.co/3pkrFr6x5l #cairns #cyclone #cycloneniran #bom #qldpol pic.twitter.com/iwlagCsp6L
— Chris Calcino (@chriscalcino) March 1, 2021
Council facilities close
Cairns Regional Council issued a notice at 2.12pm on Monday to advise of multiple facility closures due to weather.
Closures are in place until further notice.
Council facilities:
■Gordonvale and Babinda Waste Transfer Stations.
■All Active Living classes are cancelled.
■Tobruk Memorial Pool, Gordonvale and Babinda pools.
■Sugarworld Parklands, Gordonvale
■Lake Morris Rd
■Esplanade Lagoon, Muddy’s Playground, and Esplanade Activity Precinct (skate park, volleyball courts, boundering park, half-court).
The following parks and sporting fields are closed:
■Johnson Park, Gordonvale
■Alley Park, Gordonvale
■Petersen Park, Edmonton
■Bill Wakeham Park, Babinda
■Barlow Park
Performances cancelled
The Rondo Theatre confirmed its Monday night performance of Life Without Me was cancelled due to the power outage and the threat of a cyclone in the Coral Sea.
“We apologise to everyone this affects and urge you to contact Ticketlink to make new arrangements. Please stay home safe and dry and we hope we can be back (Tuesday) night,” the theatre said.
Laughing Heart Comedy has also postponed Monday night’s show with Jay Wymarra.
Ticket buyers have been notified and will be transferred to next Monday.
Sinkhole opens in Cairns
Motorists have been advised to avoid the intersection of Hannam and Earl streets in Westcourt.
As of 1pm Monday, Cairns Regional Council crews were working to repair a sinkhole caused by a burst water main.
Motorists were encouraged to avoid the area if possible as there would be disruptions to traffic.
Traffic control and detours were in place.
Boaties warned
The Regional Harbour Master has warned boat operators at Cairns and Half Moon Bay Marina, Mourilyan, Innisfail and Clump Point, Port Douglas, Cape Flattery and Cooktown to enter “preparedness phase (phase two)”.
“Vessel Operators and owners should review their safety plans and address any outstanding matters,” it said.
The Extreme Weather Plan is available via the Maritime Safety Queensland website at www.msq.qld.gov.au.
Bin collections
Cairns Regional Council has advised that Tuesday’s bin collections are expected to go ahead as normal.
On Monday, residents were asked to bring in their bins after wild weather started knocking them over.
Residents who did not have their bin collected on Monday can contact the council later in the week to organise collection.
High tide warning
A high tide of 3.15m will be experienced at 10.28am on Tuesday.
Avoid parking cars in low-lying tidal areas and never drive through floodwaters.
Motorists are reminded that tidal flooding is saltwater, which can damage cars on contact.
Motorists are urged to drive carefully and slowly, not only for the safety of road users and pedestrians, but to lessen the impact of bow waves, which can push water into adjacent properties.
Cairns Regional Council advised traffic controls and detours would be in place where roads were inundated by tidal floodwaters.
Roads underwater
Burke Developmental Rd is closed to all traffic at the Lynd Junction due to water over the road.
Queensland Traffic issued an updated warning at 7.07am on Monday.
Long-term flooding alerts are also in place for Bourke Developmental Rd at Maramie, Howitt, Kowanyama Rd at Maramie and Koolatah Oriners Rd at Dixie or Maramie.
Kimba Rd at Laura is subject to a five-tonne limit due to road damage.
The same limits are in place for Endeavour Battlecamp Rd in Cooktown and Laura.
Park closures
Cairns Regional Council has closed four parks and sporting facilities around the region due to the ongoing wet conditions.
These include: Johnson Park and Alley Park at Gordonvale, Petersen Park at Edmonton and
Bill Wakeham Park in Babinda.
Originally published as Ergon crews expect to have power restored to most Far North customers
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