Power outages: Storm hit business in North West hit by low act as TasNetworks bring in reinforcements
A North West business, which has been without power since Saturday, has been the victim of a low act during the clean-up, as TasNetworks brings in reinforcements.
Tasmania
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An interstate crew has been brought in as TasNetworks battles to reconnect power to properties cut off after a ferocious storm brought down thousands of trees and powerlines across Tasmania’s North West on Saturday.
The Kentish Council is offering hot showers to residents who can make it into town and tree service contractors and others with excavators are offering their skills and machines for free.
An Airbnb provider has offered accommodation to those who need it and Tas Pumps, Pipes and Rural Supplies are lending out generators to people in need at no cost.
But not everyone is in a giving mood.
Meredith Rose, who runs the Ashvattha Tree yoga studio from her Claude Rd property – has been without power since Saturday.
She and a neighbour spent hours cutting up the big trees which had blocked their driveways to allow them to get out to buy fuel and food.
“We finally got free after two full days of work. No power or hot water at home so we took the opportunity to go to a friends’ house to have showers and stay the night charging phones and laptops,” Ms Rose said.
“In the time I was away, someone had driven up to my home and helped themselves to the big logs we had put to the side to cut up later for firewood to stay warm next winter.”
“This wasn’t helping us with access, all the hard work was done. This was easy picking.”
As at midday Wednesday, TasNetworks had 1839 customers waiting for reconnection including 1700 in the North West.
At the height of the storm 100 different outages were reported. That was brought down to 37 by this morning but heavy rain has meant more trees fall and the number of outages has again climbed to 45.
TasNetworks crews had also restored supply to several hundred customers when a car hit the repaired power pole at Natone and supply was cut off again just 90 minutes after the lights came back on.
TasNetworks CEO Sean McGoldrick said Saturday’s storm was the worst seen since 2014.
“The wind took mature trees and lifted them out of the ground. It was nuts,” he said.
“Now heavy rain is bringing more trees down.”
Inconvenience payments are being processed for impacted customers but Mr McGoldrick said they would come nowhere near covering what people were suffering.
“It’s cold and wet and our hearts go out to them. We are flinging everything at this.”
“It’s clear from the widespread damage our crews and contractors are seeing in the field that some customers will remain without power for a few days to come. We’ll contact them again by SMS today.”
“We’ve got everyone possible in the field and are starting to access some of the more hazardous and inaccessible areas.
TasNetworks has brought in five Zinfra people from interstate who have an elevated work platform with them.
TasNetworks has advised people to stay at least 10m clear of fallen lines or other damage. Please report any undetected damage to 132 004.
Tuesday, June 14: Emergency crews are still out in force in Sheffield and other wind-smashed areas of Tasmania’s North West as the clean up continues after a “crazy” and fatal storm on Saturday.
Thousands of trees have been cut up to regain access to rural roads around Sheffield and power lines strew rural properties which are without power for their third day.
Some are dairies, milking their cows on generator power as TasNetwork crews push on to connect thousands of customers.
TasNetworks is still dealing with 46 known outages across Tasmania affecting almost 3000 customers and some residents area trapped in their properties unable to get out until fallen trees blocking their roads are removed.
“This is the worst storm emergency crews have dealt with in the Sheffield area. We received 40 calls for help – two of which were emergencies. There are thousands of trees down, we have attended 10 roof jobs already and there are people stuck we haven’t got to yet,” SES Kentish deputy unit manager James Watkins said.
One of the emergencies was the death of a Beulah woman who was hit by a tree on a private property.
A 54-year-old man with her received serious injuries.
A wind gust of 115 kilometres per hour was recorded at Sheffield around the time of the incident.
Crews from Wynyard, Central Coast, Mersey and Latrobe- were in Sheffield on Monday helping the local crew deal with the load of call outs.
Conditions were also wild in Wynyard where the SES reported enduring a “crazy” weekend.
“Thank you also to Burnie and Circular Head SES units for coming to our patch of paradise to assist our community. Our thoughts are with our other brothers and sisters in orange across the North West still assisting theirs,” an SES Wynyard spokesman said on social media.
“Sorry we couldn’t assist some people as much as we would have liked to, the weather was against us all in many ways.
“SES Tasmania wide consists of only 575 volunteers, and less than 10 in Wynyard. It’s events like this that highlight our need for more members, so if you’ve ever considered joining, please contact your local unit or regional HQ for details.
“We are all ordinary people with day jobs, the SES is a great way to learn new skills and meet new people while helping your community.”
Authorities urge snow thrillseekers to stay home
Police and rescuers have implored adventurers to avoid placing themselves in peril while enjoying the dramatic snowfall currently blasting Tasmania.
While Tasmania Police assistant commissioner Adrian Bodnar said while the snow-covered wilderness certainly was “majestic”, he urged inexperienced bushwalkers to reconsider their plans over the remainder of the long weekend.
Over the weekend, the hazardous conditions and blizzards whipping the state had led to the tragic death of a 54-year-old woman in the northwest township of Beulah after becoming trapped under a falling tree, with a 55-year-old man hospitalised.
Eight people were rescued from blizzards on kunanyi / Mt Wellington on Saturday, with another woman rescued on Sunday at the pinnacle.
The State Emergency Service responded to 220 call-outs in the 24 hours leading to Sunday morning, with 14 homes losing their entire roofs overnight, mainly caused by “destructive and damaging winds” that reached up to 127km/h in the state’s North West.
Fifteen road crashes also occurred in the same period, with 100 reports of trees falling on to the roadways.
Assistant commissioner Bodnar said a 27-year-old woman and a 16-year-old girl were lucky to be alive after becoming lost on kunanyi / Mt Wellington on Saturday night, freezing through a wind chill factor of -6C.
“Police were able to use mobile phone technology to locate them, finding them at about 10:30pm sheltering behind rocks,,” he said.
“Now to be honest, these two ladies are very, very lucky to be alive. They were very dangerous conditions.”
He asked people not to take unnecessary risks.
“If you’re not experienced in this sort of environment, you probably really should consider the need to go out in it,” assistant commissioner Bodnar said.
“Make sure you’ve got warm clothes, make sure you’ve got waterproof clothes. Please tell somebody where you’re going.”
He said inexperienced adventurers were also placing rescuers at risk.
“We would like people to take responsibility for their own actions because while our people are out there, at times they’re also placing themselves in danger,” he said.
“We’ve got some majestic places around Tasmania at this time of year. But our people at times, they are placing themselves in peril.”
He reminded people to drive to the icy conditions, slowing down and increasing the distance behind the vehicle in front.
Meanwhile, snowboarders and skiers enjoyed what they considered ideal conditions for their sport.
Peter Davis said conditions were “pretty full on” at Mt Mawson, in the Mt Field National Park, with plenty of other thrillseekers packing out car parks and roads to the site.
“It’s superb,” he said.
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