North Queensland Floods Update - 7 February

• We are progressively restoring power to customers in Ingham and surrounding areas after re-energising the substation, which is a bulk supply point for several thousand customers.
• Power has already been safely restored to several hundred customers in Ingham and we will continue patrolling feeder lines for faults and progressively restoring power where it’s safe to do so.
• We will have all hands on deck for the restoration effort – we’ll have 150 boots on the ground today and more reinforcements available to back them up.
• Crews have installed two new poles at Ollera Creek and will be using a helicopter to string powerlines today. This is the backbone of the network that supplies outlying areas, like Paluma and Mutarnee, where we need to do further checks to confirm it is safe to re-energise.

Emergency Manager Chris Hooper said Ergon would be doing everything in its power to get the lights back on across flood-affected areas.

“The safety of the community and crews is always our priority and we cannot take any shortcuts when it comes to restoring power after a natural disaster.

“We have had reports of wires down, so when you are cleaning up stay well away from fallen powerlines and report them to 000. If you’re leaving hard rubbish out for collection, please don’t pile it up around power poles and pillar boxes because our crews need safe access for inspection and repairs.

“We are having a solid crack at restoring power to the majority of customers in the Ingham township and getting generation in to support sites where network supply will take longer to restore.  We are still facing challenges accessing outlying areas where roads are still underwater and we are unable to fly.

“Ingham will see a lot of yellow uniforms out and about today. Our crews are extremely grateful for the support from customers and they would love to stop and chat, but you will be helping them get your power on faster by not distracting them from the job at hand,” Mr Hooper said.

Helicopter stringing at Ollera Creek