Thousands of Tasmanian households and businesses remain in the dark as the state continues to grapple with the aftermath of a severe weather event that has caused widespread damage across the electricity network.
As of 6am on Thursday, almost 8,600 customers were still without power across more than 620 active outages, TasNetworks Acting Operations Executive Tim Gowland said.
By lunchtime that number had reduced to just over 6,800 as repairs continue.
“We feel deeply for Tasmanians who’ve already gone several days and nights without power in their homes, businesses and farms,” Gowland said.
“Our TasNetworks team members have been working long, hard hours, in severe conditions to restore Tasmanians’ power.”
“They’ve been outstanding in their commitment and professionalism. Overall, they’ve restored power to about 150,000 customers so far.”
He said 22 interstate contractors from New South Wales arrived on the Spirit of Tasmania this morning to support recovery efforts.
“We still have several days of hard work ahead. We’ll succeed more quickly with extra field crews available,” Gowland said.
The state government has also announced an Emergency Food Grant Fund for households that have been without power for at least 72 hours.
Tasmanian households who qualify will receive payments of $350 to help replace spoiled food and essential items.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff acknowledged the thousands of Tasmanians who have been without access to food, water and essential items for several days.
“These have been very challenging circumstances, with many households having the contents of their fridge and freezers ruined by sustained power outages,” he said.
“This Emergency Food Grant Fund will go towards helping flood-affected Tasmanians re-purchase everyday supplies.”
