Western Power emergency response crews are working to address more than 160 hazards and outages caused by severe storm conditions across the network.
More than 30,000 customers across the network are currently affected by storm-related outages. Currently most customers impacted are in the South West (including Donnybrook, Balingup, Bunbury, Augusta and surrounds), and Perth metropolitan (including Yanchep, Langford, Ferndale, Hamilton Hill, Gosnells and Stoneville and surrounds).
We have restored thousands of customers throughout the day but as the storm front continues, numbers may climb as damage is reported.
The damaging and destructive winds associated with the storm front have thrown debris, including tree branches, into the network damaging equipment and bringing down powerlines.
All available crews are addressing hazards on the network. As part of our preparations, we have brought on additional operational field crews and staff, network operations controllers, call centre staff, and safety resources.
Our priority during the storm is responding to reported hazards to ensure the safety of the community and our crews.
Due to the severe weather and dangerous winds, our crews cannot currently undertake repair works as it is unsafe to operate equipment like elevated work platforms or conduct network patrols via helicopter.
With further damaging and destructive winds forecast throughout the evening, we recommend affected customers prepare for extended outages with many customers expected to be without power overnight. Those affected customers will be contacted via SMS so they can plan accordingly.
Customers who have experienced an outage for longer than 12 consecutive hours can apply for an extended outage payment via Extended Outages Payment once the power is reconnected.
