Power company AusNet Services is telling customers in the worst-affected areas of the Dandenong Ranges that they might be without power for three more weeks as overnight temperatures are set to drop to six degrees.
About 10,000 AusNet customers in Melbourne’s outer-eastern suburbs are still without power after a storm lashed parts of the state last week.
Storms wrought widespread destruction in Olinda and other parts of the Dandenongs last week. Credit:Joe Armao
AusNet revised their estimates late on Wednesday, saying initial predictions about when power would be restored to the area were wrong.
“Customers in the worst-affected areas of The Dandenongs should prepare to be without power for the next three weeks,” AusNet tweeted on Wednesday night.
“The initial estimates provided to customers were wrong. We are deeply sorry. We now understand the extent of the damage and scale of the recovery and repair ahead.
“The revised estimates to rebuild are 10 July 2021.
“This will affect 3000 customers in: Ferny Creek, Kalorama, Mount Dandenong, Olinda, Sassafras, Sherbrooke, The Basin, Tremont and Upwey. As we progress through repairs, the power will gradually come back on across the region.”
Electricity wires still lay draped on the ground on roads and private properties earlier this week, brought down by trees that came crashing down during the storms.
Yarra Ranges councillor Cathrine Burnett-Wake, whose ward takes in some of the worst-affected areas, said the delay will mean thousands of Victorian home will be without power for an entire month in the dead of winter.
“Thousands of homes will be without power for a month, in the middle of winter, and many are without clean safe water,” she said.
“The Yarra Ranges are in crisis; facing a disaster as serious as anything we’ve ever seen.”
She said the state government needs to bring in disaster relief as emergency services struggle with the unprecedented destruction that has hit the Dandenong Ranges.
“Despite their incredible efforts, emergency services and volunteers are overstretched and simply cannot cope. There are people still in need of help,” she said.
“The council is doing everything it can, but the state government needs to treat this like the disaster that it is and urgently provide appropriate disaster relief.”
Yarra Valley Water bring in drinking water tanks and bottles for Kallista residents on Wednesday.Credit:Eddie Jim
AusNet advised customers to check estimated restorations times on their website.
Authorities said earlier in the week that efforts to reconnect thousands of homes and businesses could be hampered by more rain forecast to fall in coming days.
Nearby in Kallista, Sherbrooke and The Patch, residents were warned not to drink the water from their taps due to concerns about contamination because of equipment failure.
Yarra Valley Water confirmed the warning applied to more than 700 households and is expected to last for three days. The company trucked in bottled water to Kallista for residents on Wednesday.
AusNet spokeswoman Helena Lilley said on Tuesday that staff had been working overtime to switch the power back on.
“We’ve got additional crews here and more coming from NSW, so we’re working around the clock. We’re doing everything we can to get the power back as quickly and safely as possible,” Ms Lilley said.
“There’s more bad weather on the way around Traralgon because the ground is soggy,” she said. “Tree roots are also soggy and it doesn’t take much wind to knock them over; it’s creating more difficult conditions.”
More to come
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David Estcourt is a court and general news reporter at The Age.
Benjamin is The Age's regional editor. He was previously state rounds reporter and has also covered education for The Age.
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2021-06-16 09:16:59Z
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