Editorial: Linemen our heroes in storms

Unison Networks linemen working on Matahoura Rd, Tutira, to restoe power.

A lot has been written about the weather bomb that pummelled our region at the weekend.

It is a drama that certainly touched most people's lives in the lower North Island and in Hawke's Bay especially.

For many of us it was the wind and cold, coupled with the aggravation of being without power on Saturday, but for others it was being stranded in the snow, cut off from civilisation and having no power for days.

It was a big deal whichever way you look at it and it certainly kept the journalists of this newspaper busy making sure we kept readers up to date and informed through our website, Facebook page and in the papers this week.

We were able to report on what was happening on the Napier-Taupo Rd and had a team up there to observe the moment the road opened on Tuesday morning.

It got me thinking about the role of a group of people who largely went unnoticed. Imagine being a Unison or Transpower lineman and getting that call about 2.30am on Saturday, telling you to get out on the Napier-Taupo Rd in blizzard conditions to find the fault that caused the entire Hawke's Bay region to fall into darkness.

Just getting up along that road would have been an effort, requiring a team of dedicated people. Finding the fault and working with live cables in freezing conditions at night would have been a job for experts who knew what they were doing.

I don't think it is overstating things to call these people courageous.

They probably don't regard themselves as heroes but I reckon they are.

Let's hope Unison and Transpower appreciate them: we certainly do.