Storm Updates; Thursday - Friday PM

Media Releases Network Updates
Winds are beginning to calm and we have managed to restore power in many areas. However, flooding and fallen trees in several areas are making it tricky to access some outages. We have brought in extra crews from leave, and from other networks, to deal with the storm. However, the widespread impact of the storm means some customers are likely to be without power until at least the morning. We have updated estimated restoration times in our Outage App and on the Outages Map on our website.

These have the latest updates direct from the field, and are the best source of information. We will continue responding to individual queries in social media, however due to the high volume there may be some delay in responding, please bear with us.

We want to thank those customers currently without power for their patience and understanding. Our crews are working to safely restore power across the network, and we will get to you.

We have boosted the capacity of the website and outage app to ensure they can manage demand from people looking for updates.

Just a reminder to treat all downed power lines as live, and stay well clear.


Storm Update: Friday AM


 Vector’s crews have been responding to a number of incidents on the electricity network overnight. Impacts increased during the evening continued overnight, with half of those still outstanding occurring since midnight. Most outages have been seen in rural areas, north of Auckland city, including a small number of single supply outages on Kawau Island.

Many of these have been caused by vegetation, typically wind blowing tree branches onto power lines. With the situation still very active, the number of customers affected by outages can change rapidly as restoration work is completed, supply is back-filled, or as new incidents occur.

Vector’s storm response is continuing this morning. We have recalled crews from leave where possible and have cancelled all planned overhead work and reassigned crews to storm response activity.

The safety of our crews and the public is our first priority. With the strong winds continuing today, we continue to ask for patience as our crews assess conditions for site safety, repair and re-livening work in conjunction with fatigue management plans.

It’s important to stay well clear of any downed power lines or damaged electrical equipment. Treat power lines as live at all times. People using medical equipment that rely on electricity should let their retailer know and ensure they are prepared for power disruptions. If there is an immediate health threat, they should contact their health provider or call 111. Vector is encouraging people to keep updated via their outage app or vector.co.nz/outages.

Storm update; Thursday PM

Vector’s crews have been responding to a number of incidents on the electricity network throughout the day, including replacing a 12.5m pole after a vehicle collision, removing fallen vegetation from power lines, and lines that have been brought down from the strong winds.

While some incidents were caused by factors unrelated to the severe weather, the majority of outages are due to the severe weather. Impacts have increased during the evening, and have been seen in mostly rural areas, north of Auckland city. As a result, our storm response plan has been activated.

The safety of our crews and the public is our first priority. With the poor weather expected to continue overnight and into Friday, we ask for patience with restoration times as our crews assess conditions for site safety, repair and re-livening work in conjunction with fatigue management plans.

Vector is encouraging people to keep updated via their outage app.

It’s also very important that people stay well clear of fallen power lines or damaged electrical equipment. People using medical equipment that rely on electricity should let their retailer know and ensure they are prepared for power disruptions.

If there is an immediate health threat, they should contact their health provider or call 111.