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Cyclone Dovi swept across Auckland on the night of Saturday, February 12, causing extensive damage to power lines on parts of the Hibiscus Coast.
However, households affected by several days of outages say their main concern was lack of communication from lines company Vector.
Properties in Stillwater, Silverdale, Wainui, Waiwera and Hatfields Beach were among those left without power – some for days.
Among them were eight neighbouring families in Hatfields Beach, living on lifestyle blocks and reliant on tank water (so no power, no water).
Two of the families have members with health issues – both those people require regular use of equipment that needs power to operate.
Caroline Field’s 23-year-old son requires twice-daily physiotherapy using a nebulizer but at first she didn’t seek emergency restoration of the power on medical grounds.
“On the first day I didn’t push it, because I knew Vector would be slammed and also that there could be others in more dire straits,” she says.
As time went on, it became more urgent and Field made contact through Vector’s medical line.
“They were very sympathetic, but nothing happened,” Field says. “My family was using the toilets in Ōrewa Surf Club, and wondering how long it would all go on for.”
Her neighbour, James Mackenzie, a retired electrical engineer, was able to give Vector specific technical information about the lines – a fuse had blown and was dangling from the power pole.
“On Tuesday, Vector said it was elevated to ‘a safety issue’ because the fuse was down, but still nothing happened,” Mackenzie says.
He drove to Penrose to spend thousands on a generator – they were in scarce supply.
He had still heard nothing from the lines company three days later when the power went back on.
“We are resilient Kiwis and can cope, but what annoys me is that their systems for mapping and communicating with customers is clearly not working. They spent a lot of money on those systems and they should be set up to cope with emergencies just like this.”
Also calling with specific information for Vector was Mackenzie’s neighbour Alastair Cumming. One of his family, who has a medical condition and needs a power supply, ended up heading into the city to stay in an apartment for the duration.
Cumming says it was not Vector’s call centre, but those in the field creating the delay.
“The call centre was very helpful passing on the messages, but the information I gave was not being actioned by the workers,” he says.
He says he repeatedly told Vector it was a fuse issue, but they sent the wrong crews to fix it. That is why, when a repair team came to the site on Monday, the workers stayed in the truck for a few hours and eventually drove away.
“They should have sent high voltage technicians – and when the low voltage team got there and realised this, they did not get the backup they needed.”
“The fix was a 20-minute job – it was a simple repair and doing it should not have taken that long,” Cumming says.
Despite repeated calls, Field says she and her neighbours got no further indication of when the power would go back on.
“We were told on Tuesday it was Code 1 and would be fixed that afternoon. But again, nothing.”
Field says the next day she eventually reached a helpful Vector staff member who took action – less than an hour later, power was restored.
Field’s family has lived in Hatfields Beach for 24 years and Cummings for around double that and both say this has been the longest they have had to go without power since the lines went in.
“Definitely the hardest thing was lack of communication,” Field says. “Had we known how long it could be, we would have been prepped for it and my son could have gone to a friend or relative to use the nebulizer. All of us were phoning for days and the issue was logged online. We would hold out hope for a repair, and then that hope was dashed. It was a frustrating and worrying time.”
A Vector spokesperson says Cyclone Dovi brought extremely challenging weather conditions, with a storm on two fronts and wind gusts of over 150kph, which led to extensive and widespread damage to the electricity network. Crews worked day and night to make the network safe and restore power after the cyclone.
By Wednesday, all network repairs were completed and the company was “working through a backlog of smaller, localised faults affecting single households or small groups”.
“This backlog is driven by the sheer volume of damage the electricity network sustained across the region,” the spokesperson says. “In severe storms with widespread damage, such as Cyclone Dovi, it usually takes us several days to physically assess damage and restore power. We know the time it can take is frustrating.”
“In regards to medically dependent consumers, during a storm or otherwise, Vector cannot guarantee an uninterrupted supply of power. In all instances, if there is an immediate health threat, our advice is to call 111,” the spokesperson says.
The Electricity Authority website sets out how medically dependent consumers should prepare for power outages: www.ea.govt.nz/consumers/what-are-my-rights-as-an-electricity-consumer/consumer-care-guidelines/what-are-my-rights-as-a-medically-dependent-consumer/
Tree work in wake of cyclone
The recent cyclone brought down numerous trees and large branches in parks and reserves, as well as on private property. The cleanup is continuing but if you see any fallen trees that have not been attended to on public land you can contact Auckland Council, using the council’s Report a Problem online tool www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/report-problem/Pages/report-a-problem.aspx or by phoning 09 301 0101.
