Tropical Cyclone Alfred Update - 8 March

Current outages

• In total there are nearly 240,000 homes and businesses without power supply as a result of TC Alfred’s winds and debris. Below is a screenshot of outages by LGA in South East Queensland. This number is likely to rise as Alfred continues to cross the coast and residual flooding ensues. You can follow outages in near live time at Energex Emergency Outages
• There are at least 1,000 powerlines down and this total will increase as people wake and report more. Powerlines down can be reported on 13 19 62. People should never go near powerlines because they may still be live.

Energex’s response

• Energex crews are still staged and ready to go once it is safe to do so. We cannot put our bucket trucks in the air at the risk of them being toppled over by wind. Furthermore, we cannot have our crews out there with debris still flying around.

Plan for extended outages

• We continue to urge the community in the worst affected areas to plan for power outages lasting a week or more.

Today’s tips:

• If you are reliant on powered medical equipment and currently don’t have supply should enact your plan B now or call 000 in a life-threatening situation.
• Flooding could cause further power interruptions and we are monitoring the electricity network in low-lying areas.
• Once crews are able to safely respond and, if your property has been damaged by the cyclone and/or flooding, your switchboard and other electrical installations could be affected and we may need to disconnect it for safety.
• If any appliances have been saturated or inundated do not use them. Either have them inspected by a licensed electrician or throw them out. Lift electrical equipment to high areas in the home if you’re in a flood zone.