18 Jul 2009

Power restored to most Northland homes

10:18 pm on 18 July 2009

Power was restored to most households in Northland on Saturday night following cuts caused by severe gales on Friday night.

It was the second weekend in a row that electricity was cut to homes in Northland due to bad weather.

Top Energy, which supplies homes in the Mid and Far North, says about 12 homes in remote areas have to spend another night without power, but repair crews would resume work on the faults on Sunday morning.

Northpower, which supplies households in the Whangarei and Kaipara Districts, says on Saturday night only a handful of households remained without electricity.

The company says Friday night's rain and wind gusts had left five thousand homes without electricity, but repair crews restored power to most homes on Saturday.

Northpower says strong winds were still bringing trees and shed roofs down onto lines, creating new faults as staff repaired the old ones.

Houses in the Whangarei Heads area bore the brunt of the gales.

Unlike last weekend, the company says it was not expecting the storm.