Mildura Power Outage: Thousands Left in Dark as Restoration Takes Days
A car hitting a power pole in Birdwoodton has left over 2,700 homes and businesses in Mildura without power, with restoration efforts expected to take several days. A relief station will be set up to help affected residents charge devices and access the internet.
Power outages are expected to persist in Mildura and its surrounding areas for several days after a vehicle struck a power pole in Birdwoodton early this morning.
The incident, which occurred at McEdward Street, Birdwoodton shortly after 6:30am, has resulted in over 2,700 homes and businesses being affected. A woman in her 20s was taken to Mildura Hospital with paramedics in attendance; her condition is currently stable.
Power Restoration Efforts Underway
Electricity distributor Powercor reported that the outage was initially expected to last until 5:30pm today. However, by 3pm, they had revised their estimate, suggesting it could take days for power to be fully restored.
"This is what we call a high-voltage injection ... power that is far too high-pressure to run your toaster or TV, entering into the low voltage network,"
said Powercor spokesperson Jordan Oliver.
"What we're checking is that the high voltage hasn't gone into people's homes and caused damage to people's properties."
Oliver emphasized that thorough checks are being conducted to ensure safety before power can be restored.
"We're doing really, really thorough checks to make sure that it's safe for us to turn the power back on."
Community Support Measures
Affected residents are advised to inspect their homes and businesses for any signs of damage, such as damaged switchboards or unusual smells, and report these to Powercor promptly. In response to the outage, Mildura Rural City Council will establish a relief station from 8am on Tuesday, providing a space for people to charge their devices and access the internet.
The collision impacted a major powerline described as "a feeder" or a backbone powerline from Merbein into parts of Mildura. According to Oliver,
"Around 2,700 customers [were] impacted on that feeder and that includes homes, businesses ... and a lot of properties [with] automated alarm systems will be triggering due to a loss of mains power supply,"he explained.
Current Status and Next Steps
Powercor is working diligently to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. The community is urged to follow the distributor's guidance and report any concerns to facilitate a swift resolution.