Mighty effort powers Brisbane revival

Energex crews are now in in the final stages of restoring power to nearly all storm affected customers where possible.

Energy and Water Supply Minister Mark McArdle said Thursday’s storm left over 614 fallen powerlines threatening community safety and leaving 108,000 homes and businesses in the dark.

Mr McArdle said the power supply had been safely restored to 106,000 customers at lunch time today and Energex was now directing about 120 crews to focus on trying to safely restore power to all remaining customers 5pm today where possible.

“Energex and Ergon have put in a mighty effort and they’ve done a really good job,” Mr McArdle said.

“To make Brisbane suburbs safer, as well as to restore power to homes and businesses, there were more than 200 crews in the field yesterday from across the region, including Ergon Energy crews from Toowoomba.”

Energex crews reconnected another 10,000 homes overnight and were today focused on connecting who are still without power.

Over 90 Energex crews are out today to repairing and rebuilding the storm-damaged power network, especially in St Lucia, Taringa, Toowong, Indooroopilly and Inala.

Mr McArdle said safety around powerlines remained a key priority for Energex crews and the community in responding, recovering and rebuilding following a big storm.

“Some buildings have sustained significant structural damage and will not be capable of getting their power supply safely restored for some time,” he said.

Mr McArdle encouraged people who were still without power to call Energex direct on 13 62 62 so they could talk about individual restoration processes and safety.

“I strongly encourage all residents affected by the storms to make safety an absolute priority, keep away from fallen power lines and call Energex on 13 19 62 if you see any wires on the ground,” Mr McArdle said.

“For those still without power, please check that your stove and oven dials are turned off so they will not automatically power up when supply is restored to your home or business.”

“If your fridge has been without power for a considerable amount of time, please visit the Queensland Health website to see whether your food is still safe to eat,” he said.

This information can be found at http://www.health.qld.gov.au/disaster/storms/food-safety.asp

Mr McArdle said that if your home or business was damaged or inundated by water, it was necessary to call a licensed electrician to inspect it before turning the power back on.

[ENDS] 29 November 2014

Media Contact: Ben Maxwell 0437 334 183