Susanna Freymark
At 4am this morning, Friday, March 7, a powerline went down at Boorabee Park near Kyogle. Fortunately crews were quick to respond and the the line has been repaired.
This is one of hundreds of incidents involving power across the Norther Rivers as Cyclone Alfred inches closer to the coast and is expected to make land in the early hours of Saturday morning, March 8.
There are a lot of homes without power as can be seen on the outages map.
Towns and villages in Richmond Valley are also impacted.
In the New Italy area, 81 households are without power and 16 near Olive Gap.
The main power outage in Richmond Valley is currently affecting 464 households in Woodburn, Rileys Hill, Kilgin, Broadwater and Bagotville.
Essential Energy has listed multiple faults as the cause of the outages.
There are likely to be more power outages so be prepared. Fill water containers (for when pump won’t work) and have torches ready for later tonight.
Essential Energy has had to stand down its crew because of the unsafe weather conditions.
Here is their storm advice:
You need to be prepared to be without power for several days, Essential Energy said.
If you have lost power, turn off your power points and unplug electrical equipment if it is safe to do so.
Do not go outside to turn the power off.
Do not run electrical equipment such as generators, extension leads or lighting in wet areas.
Essential Energy outages map is here.
