Western Power Crews are under the pump in Kalgoorlie Boulder as the clean up from the massive Saturday Afternoon storm continues.
Power has been restored to the Kalgoorlie Health Campus and Some of the Kalgoorlie CBD as a priority to infrastructure such as ATM's, Banks, Businesses and Emergency services. However for residential services this will take some time.
Water and Sewerage are on emergency services and fuel is in high demand as well as Ice, where the Goldfields Ice Works Solar panels were damaged in the storm, however a generator should be connected this afternoon. Hannans IGA and O'Connor IGA also have switched to Generators to keep serving the city.
Western Power Spokesperson spoke to Glenney at 11:40 for an update:
AS at 11:40am here is an update from Western Power:
As you are aware, an intense and power thunderstorm has swept through the goldfields bringing with it large hail and winds in excess of 100km/h
We currently have just over 16,000 customers without power in Kalgoorlie and the surrounding areas of Kambalda and Coolgardie.
The storm has uprooted trees that have hit powerlines and in many instances brought down lines and damaged poles and other equipment.
There were over 173 hazards registered with Western Power which our crews in Kalgoorlie are already attending to make sure the community is safe.
Our call centre received over 3500 calls to the 13 13 51 number in the four hours following the storm
Our crews worked through the night to make as many of these hazards as safe as possible.
We are prioritising repairs and inspections to lines that can restore power and services to critical infrastucture.
Yesterday we prioritised hazard that were on the line to the Kalgoorlie hospital and were able to restore power to the hospital as part of a concentrated effort on critical infrastructure.
Early this morning we were able to restore power to a feeder line in to the CBD which has restored power to some petrol stations and ATMs
While inspections were being conducted teams have reported further hazards which has frustrated progress.
We have been working alongside SES and City of Kalgoorlie crews to assist when needed as they have attended over 100 emergency call-outs as well.
We have sent eight extra crews to Kalgoorlie from nearby and metro depots to assist with hazards and restoration work.
Four 500KVA Western Power Emergency Generators are arriving in town to be used to assist in restoration and other critical infrastructure when it is safe to do so. These will be arriving early this morning.
The intense storm front has left a number of distribution and service powerlines down which continue to present risks to public safety.
Hazards are the priority which means unfortunately customers have been without power overnight.
We apologise for this inconvenience but with we have fresh crews starting this morning and we will commence restoration as soon as it is safe to do so.
If anyone sees a fallen power line or damage to the network, stay at least eight metres away and make the safe call to Western Power on 13 13 51.
If it a life threatening emergency please call 000.
Power outage map for restoration times.