Fewer than 200 occupied homes remain without power in Hastings and Napier area

A Unison faultman working on power lines in Hawke's Bay following the cyclone. Photo / Warren Buckland

Electricity company Unison says there are now fewer than 200 occupied homes still without power in the wider Napier and Hastings districts, a month on from Cyclone Gabrielle.

“We understand how hard it is for our customers still without power and although we have made huge gains in reconnecting customers, we will not rest until we have finished the job,” said Jason Larkin, Unison incident controller and general manager for commercial.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 690 properties were without power.

Unsion confirmed fewer than 200 of those were occupied residential households.

Hundreds of homes have been red and yellow-stickered in Hawke’s Bay following damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle, and many remain vacant including in hard-hit areas such as Esk Valley.

“The scale of this event has seen our teams and crews step up and deliver at pace to overcome complex challenges in conditions never experienced before,” Larkin said.

“We’ve had to pivot at every stage of our response to ensure we remain focused on the next challenge.

“Not only were we faced with significant storm damage to our overhead network, but we had to deal with unprecedented damage to our connection to the national grid at Redclyffe, key lines and river crossings destroyed by flood waters, and flooded zone substations.

“From undertaking complex repairs like erecting river crossings, to tackling access and roading challenges, getting generators connected, reconnecting fibre, and working with Transpower to use emergency measures to bring power into the region, to supporting our communities and standing up a new depot, our team has done a remarkable job.”

In the days following the cyclone, a peak of 75,000 customers was without power in the region.

Generators are now providing power to about 760 households that are unable to be reconnected to the network due to extensive cyclone damage.