3500 Central Qld Ergon customers lose power after storm

Ergon Energy workers from Rockhampton, Gladstone and Yeppoon are working tirelessly to restore power and clean up after last night’s storm which left 3500 customers without power amidst winds of 70km/h.

Ergon Energy workers from Rockhampton, Gladstone and Yeppoon are working tirelessly to restore power and clean up after last night’s storm which left 3500 customers without power at one stage, the power company reports.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology website, Rockhampton radar at the airport experienced a maximum wind speed of about 70kms per hour for 10 minutes during part of the storm last night.

An Ergon spokeswoman said Rockhampton city copped the worst of last nights storm – “Allenstown the worst of all” – with a helicopter surveilling Stanwell and Alton Downs early this morning.

Ergon Energy crews working on a fallen tree in Bolsover Street, Rockhampton, after a storm caused damage to powerlines the night before, impacting more than 3500 customers in the Rockhampton region – mostly in the CBD and Allenstown.

“Over one kilometres of powerlines are on the deck,” she said.

The spokeswoman said there were multiple power poles that needed to be replaced once vegetation had been removed.

She said big trees were a factor with gum trees up to 30 metres tall having fallen in the storm.

Penlington Street in The Range where a tree brought down powerlines in a storm during the night on January 16.

The spokeswoman said as of 10.30am, there were only 836 customers still without power and if all went well, those should have power before the weekend.

She said Ergon crews – including all of Rockhampton’s crews – had been working tirelessly since Sunday due to Rockhampton experiencing storms every afternoon or night.

During Sunday’s storm, trees were also uprooted and property was damaged in Gracemere and trampolines were caught up in the strong winds and carried into neighbouring yards across the region.

Penlington Street in The Range where a tree brought down powerlines in a storm during the night on January 16.

The spokeswoman said Moura crews had come to Rockhampton to assist on Monday and Tuesday while there were 40 from Gladstone and Yeppoon helping today.

“It’s just been flat chat,” she said.

The spokeswoman urged people that if they see a fallen powerline, to not assume someone else had reported it, treat it as ‘live and deadly’ and to call triple 0 first before reporting it to Ergon on 13 16 70.

Penlington Street in The Range where a tree brought down powerlines in a storm during the night on January 16.

As of 11. 40am, according to the Ergon Outage website, there were 1179 customers at The Range and Allenstown area without power, 25 in Depot Hill, 44 in Rockhampton CBD, four at The Common, four at Mt Chalmers, two at Cawarral, 135 in the Bajool and Raglan areas, 11 in Blackwater and Rolleston, 74 at Emerald and 10 at Dingo.