Tens of thousands of Victorians are still without power after destructive storms wreaked havoc on the energy grid.
About 77,000 homes and businesses remained disconnected from the electricity network at 10:30am on Thursday, according to authorities, down from 125,000 on Wednesday evening and 530,000 at its peak.
Of these, more than 72,500 are in the AusNet services area.
“Those numbers should come down quite significantly,” AusNet communications general manager Karen Winsbury told ABC radio on Thursday morning.
“Hopefully we can have yet another 25,000 on through the course of today.”
Crews worked through the night to clear debris and repair powerlines to reconnect properties, following damage from storms, strong winds and lightning.
However, it could take days or more than a week to restore electricity to those impacted, the Australian Energy Market Operator has warned.
The main blackout-affected areas are Yarra Ranges, South Gippsland and the Bass Coast.
“We’ll have 400 crews on the ground again today, we’ve been working through the night,” AusNet network management executive general manager Steven Neave told Nine’s Today show on Thursday.
“It’s really clearing that vegetation out of the way, getting safe access to all the streets and suburbs where this storm has gone through and progressively … restoring supply as safely as we can.”
However, some customers may not get their power back until next week.
“We are hoping to have … the vast majority back on by Saturday,” Mr Neave said.
The disaster was one of the largest power outages in Victorian history and could take weeks to fully fix.
Victoria’s State Emergency Service has received some 4250 calls for assistance since Tuesday, with roughly 3300 for downed trees and close to 600 for building damage.
About a quarter of those requests were for incidents in Gippsland, including almost 400 for trees down on roads or buildings, and 53 calls for help in Mirboo North alone.
A dairy farmer in nearby Darlimurla North was killed when he was struck by debris while herding cows on a quad bike on Tuesday evening.
A relief point has been set up at the Mirboo North and District Community Foundation, to provide information, generators for electricity and satellite internet because the town is completely cut-off by the storm damage.
About 750 call-out requests were still active statewide on Thursday morning.
Five regional hospitals could remain on generator power for at least three days as authorities rush to prioritise fuel and restore energy to those sites.
Families were in the dark on whether they could send their children to school on Thursday after 80 schools and early learning centres were closed due to power outages or other issues on Wednesday.
Almost 500 phone towers and 450 NBN sites were down on Wednesday, leaving a quarter of a million customers without internet access.
Collapsed transmission lines also caused the Loy Yang A coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley to shut down, along with several wind farms.
Source: AAP
