Port Pirie freak storm: Power back on, schools reopen as big clean-up continues
Life in Port Pirie is slowly returning to normal after a freak storm cut power to hundreds in scorching 40C heat, as angry residents criticise the BOM for a lack of warning.
Power is back on and schools have started to reopen three days after a freak storm smashed Port Pirie.
SA Power Networks have reported no outages in the region after the storm wiped out power to over 5,000 residents on Saturday. While nine schools and kindergartens were closed on Monday, six reopened on Tuesday morning.
However, Port Pirie Community Kindergarten, Solomontown Primary School and Solomontown Kindergarten are still closed.
It comes as residents in Port Pirie lashed by the storm said they felt like they were living in a “forgotten” town as hundreds of businesses and residences remained without power on Monday.
The wild weather caused mass power outages, flooding and widespread damage in what emergency services labelled the most significant storm in the region in history.
Ian Wellgreen, who had only been in Port Pirie for three years, said the town had been “forgotten” as massive power outages left residents suffering through scorching temperatures.
As crews worked to reconnect power to hundreds of homes on Monday and SES teams cleared up debris from the township, locals were left reeling, and sweltering.
A father of five, Mr Wellgreen, 73, said he’d been left disconnected from power multiple times since he’d moved to the town and after Saturday’s storm, he’s calling for something to be done about the town’s power network.
“Port Pirie is so far behind most regional communities in Australia,” he said.
“Somebody needs to take a good hard look at the power situation in town and putting power lines underground or something like that will cost a lot of money, but I mean this sort of thing wouldn’t happen again.
“We’re just being forgotten here, and we’re in a weather-prone area so something needs to be done.”
Neil Withers is one of hundreds in Port Pirie still without power and said his disability made managing power outages that bit more difficult.
Fortunately, his carer Bevan Smith - who also cares for Sharon Casey - had been able to offer up a place for both Mr Withers and Ms Casey to stay until the lights came back on.
Mr Withers said the “terrifying” storm had come out of nowhere and left him shaken.
“I looked out the back and saw the light flicker off, and then I just heard things smashing down onto pots and things,” he said.
“I just held onto the doorframe and didn’t let go, it was really scary.
“Being disabled, it was very scary.”
Mr Withers was forced to thrown food from his fridge and freezer in the bin because he was unsure when the power would return after the Stobie pole out the front of his Dunn St home was left mangled by heavy winds and fallen trees.
About 300 customers remained without power on Monday evening.
SA Power Networks spokeswoman Cecilia Schutz said “around 60” power lines were reported down on Saturday evening.
Ms Schutz said SA Power Networks crews were continuing to work “as quickly and safely as possible” to restore power to the remaining impacted customers in Port Pirie.
Living with emphysema, 65-year-old Cindy Grant said she was lucky to not be on oxygen when the power went out, otherwise she might have died.
Furious at the lack of information, she questioned why the Bureau of Meteorology hadn’t issued a severe weather warning sooner.
“We just didn’t know what was going to hit us until it did,” Ms Grant said.
“There was just no warning, people’s lives and houses are at risk.”
The Bureau, which revealed its new, controversial website cost $96m on Sunday, was criticised by locals who said they needed to be prepared to deal with such “scary” storm cells.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said the BOM, whom on Sunday he’d said had “not forecasted” the storm, had “quite a challenging job”.
“I think they are one of the more professional scientific-based organisations we have in the country,” he said.
“They weren’t able to predict this one and I don’t think that’s because they got it wrong, I just think they’re dealing with what was a very unusual storm cell that came out of nowhere.
“No doubt they’ll be doing a bit of work to understand what happened, but I’m not criticising them.”
A Bureau spokesman said BOM had communicated the risk of possible thunderstorms for Port Pirie in their Saturday morning forecast.
“While the Bureau can analyse and predict when the atmosphere is likely to produce severe thunderstorms, the rapidly changing nature of thunderstorms makes it difficult to forecast their exact location with long lead times, which is why the Bureau supports targeted warnings with localised forecasts, briefings and public information in the hours and days leading up to an expected severe weather event,” the spokesman said.
He said the first severe thunderstorm warning had been issued at 7.14pm on Saturday for an area that bordered Port Pirie, before the city was included in a subsequent warning at 8.11pm.
“The Bureau works closely with emergency management agencies and with government at all levels to provide expert insights, forecasts and warnings and help the community prepare for severe weather,” he said.
Meanwhile, both St Mark’s College’s junior and senior campuses were among six schools shut with the sites suffering power outages or storm damage.
Families at the Catholic school were told to keep their children home from the primary campus on Monday due to a lack of power and scorching temperatures in the area.
The Bureau forecast a top of 40C for Port Pirie on Monday with temperatures expected to drop to 29C on Tuesday.
The decision to shut the secondary campus at St Mark’s College was made on Sunday due to storm damage.
St Mark’s College principal Sandra Hewson said the school “was in the eye of the storm”.
At the secondary campus, temporary toilets installed following a fire at the school earlier this year, were “blown off their blocks” and a classroom ceiling collapsed.
“The town looks like a bomb hit it,” Ms Hewson said.
School staff are on site to help with the clean up, including drying soaked carpets.
“There are a few tired staff who are battling a lack of sleep due to the outage,” she said.
“My own house is still without power.”
Ms Hewson hopes to open both campuses to students on Tuesday but it “depends on the power outage”.
The Department for Education confirmed Airdale Primary School, Risdon Park Primary School, Risdon Park South Kindergarten, Solomontown Primary School and Solomontown Kindergarten would not be open to students on Monday.
More than 5000 people were without power on the weekend.
“We expect that significant damage and site access issues will cause extended power outages for some customers,” an SA Power Networks statement said.
“We will provide updates when we have a better understanding of the extent of damage.”
Emergency services received over 300 call-outs for help after destructive wind gusts ripped roofs from homes, with rain turning roads to rivers as hail pelted the Spencer Gulf city.
The freak storm, which Mr Malinauskas said was “not forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology”, caused widespread destruction and left stunned residents facing a massive clean-up operation.
On Sunday, SES acting chief officer Kristy Phelps said it was the “most significant storm event that we’ve had in the Port Pirie region on record”.
Originally published as Port Pirie freak storm: Power back on, schools reopen as big clean-up continues
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