Young Tauranga family struggle without power and working household appliances for several days

Maria Molisi and her family heard loud noises and saw "bright flashes of light" outside their Coopers Rd house in Gate Pa last Thursday around 9pm. Photo / Supplied

A young Tauranga family has been left more than $10,000 out of pocket after a power box outside their house exploded and caught fire, destroying household appliances.

Maria Molisi and her family heard loud noises and saw "bright flashes of light" outside their Coopers Rd house in Gate Pa last Thursday around 9pm.

"We went outside and found out that the power box in front of our house on the street was on fire," she said.

Lines company Powerco said it was investigating reports a vehicle crashed into a mailbox, hitting a pillar box in Tauranga last Thursday.

A spokesperson said the box exploded, cutting power to 40 properties on Coopers Rd, including that of the Molisi family.

The explosion left the family without power for days.

"It went out that night and didn't come back on for at least 24 hours after that," she said.

"And even over the weekend it's been on and off, and we were without power again for 24 hours from Sunday to Monday night."

Molisi is 36 weeks pregnant, and said the stress had been unbearable.

"It's not been easy at all. Trying to get things organised at the moment. My husband works fulltime and I work part-time and study part-time from home," she said.

"I was hoping to kind of get ahead and be ready for when the baby comes but this has kind of stopped everything."

She believed more than $10,000 worth of appliances had been damaged, including the food they had to throw out of the fridge and freezer.

"The washing machine is not working which is not ideal with a young child and lots of washing to do. I had to carry everything to a laundromat with my toddler.

"Also the printer wasn't working. I was asked to print the claim form for the insurance and I went to use the printer and that's not working. Just quite a few things making it difficult. And the heat pump isn't working so the house has been really cold."

She said she had been trying to get answers all week from Genesis and Powerco. On Tuesday, Genesis put the family up in a motel for two nights while it liaised with Powerco over what had happened.

"At least it's something but what we really want is for everything to get fixed in our house so we can be at home," she said.

Genesis told NZME the company was working with Powerco to find out what happened.

Powerco network operations manager Phil Marsh said an electrical inspector had visited the property on Wednesday, confirming there were no issues with the Powerco electricity network.

Powerco and Genesis are working together to ensure the family has working appliances so they can return home, he said.

Marsh had earlier said the family was the only one with ongoing issues. He apologised for the distress caused.

Molisi told the Bay of Plenty Times yesterday the Powerco electrical inspector had visited her home on Wednesday afternoon.

"He checked the cabling in the house, it all looks fine. He noted down the appliances that are damaged and said he would give the list to Powerco."

Molisi was waiting to hear what would happen next but had heard her appliances would be fixed.