Hills of discontent as communities remain blacked out a week after storm

Those who live in the hills are no strangers to electricity outages where remoteness and weather can result in short power cuts. But a week without electricity has eroded the patience of even the most storm-hardened residents in the Dandenong Ranges.

Bob Smith, who has lived at his Emerald property for 49 years, is among those who had not yet been reconnected. He has been washing clothes and eating some meals at his granddaughter’s house in Berwick.

More than a week after ferocious storms, Bob Smith is still waiting for electricity to be reconnected to his Emerald home.Credit: Justin McManus

“Basic things like hot water, having a shower – I have to go down to her place to do that,” he said. “That makes it very difficult.”

Although Smith considered himself lucky to have help close at hand, he said the prolonged electricity outage had been trying.

“It is a battle,” he said. “I miss the television at night.”

Thankfully, his neighbour Vicky Campbell has a generator that Smith has used to charge his phone. But the Campbell family has also been dealt another blow – they are isolating with COVID-19.

Vicky Campbell isolating at her Emerald home with COVID-19 while the power has been out more than a week. Credit: Justin Mcmanus

“We’ve got no power, no internet,” Campbell said.

The Cardinia Shire has established relief centres in Emerald and Cockatoo, which as also been hit hard by power cuts, where residents can shower and charge their devices.

Premier Jacinta Allan said that as of Tuesday morning, there were 3935 Victorian homes still without power a week on from the ferocious storms that swept the state. At the peak of the outages, more than 500,000 were cut from the electricity grid.

“I do really want to acknowledge for those households and businesses that they’re continuing to face those difficult circumstances,” Allan said.

Workers trying to restore power in the Dandenong Ranges. Credit: Justin McManus

Emily Stygall has struggled to run her small farm and glamping business while disconnected. She lost power to her Kallista property just before the storm rolled over Victoria, and it has not returned since.

Stygall, a sole trader who runs her businesses on a 40-acre property, said last week’s storm was among the most destructive she has experienced.

“We got trapped on the property because five trees came down, and we couldn’t get out. There was no way to contact anybody to see what’s going. Both Optus and Telstra were down.

“We had to go through a back paddock and cut through trees to get out the back way to make sure my mother-in-law was okay down the road. It was quite scary.”

Emily Stygall has been unable to accept visitors at her glamping business with the power out. Credit: Justin McManus

Stygall bought a generator after the calamitous storms in 2021 that wrought widespread damage across the Dandenong Ranges, but it only allows her to run limited appliances like her fridge.

She estimates she has lost at least $5000 in the past week – a heavy blow for the sole trader – because she’s been unable to accommodate guests.

A spokesperson for energy distribution company AusNet apologised for the outages and said priority areas for repair crews included Emerald, Cockatoo, Mirboo North and surrounds.

“The next few days are going to be really tough, as we are working through the dozens of smaller, complex jobs with significant damage to the infrastructure,” they said.

“It is important to note that there is another weather front on the way due to arrive on Thursday that we are monitoring closely.”

Most shops were without power in the village of Cockatoo, apart from a few businesses connected to a generator.

Jodie-Ann Latimer, manager of Chieftains Smokehouse, said many of her customers had no electricity.

She said on Saturday evening the business, which sells meats and other foods, provided 80 meals for the community. “The locals support us, so we wanted to do the same,” she said. “The community support up here is amazing. It’s one of my favourite places in the world.”

Mark Caldecourt, who lives in Emerald, was reconnected to electricity on Saturday night after losing all the food in his fridge and freezer.

But upon restocking at the supermarket, he lost power again between Sunday evening and early Monday morning. He fears the electricity will go out again with more unstable weather forecast.

Mark Caldecourt at home in Emerald. Credit: Justin McManus

“We know it will. It’s just a matter of when,” he said.

With Broede Carmody

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