Power network damage $1.5m

Whangarei District Council contractors work on clearing a large slip on Takitu Rd, north west of Whangarei, yesterday that has blocked access to four homes.Photo/Michael Cunningham

While the final costs of last week's storm that battered Northland won't be known for several months, it's already running well into the millions, with the weather the most devastating on Far North power supplies since Cyclone Bola 26 years ago.

Top Energy, which supplies power to the Far North, has estimated it will cost around $1.5 million to repair the hundreds of faults on its network - well ahead of the annual budget for fault repairs.

"Our normal (yearly) budget for faults is $1.3 million, so we've had more than one year's worth of faults in one week. We had hundreds of faults across the network and it's been the most damage to our network since Cyclone Bola (in March, 1988)," Top Energy CEO Russell Shaw said.

Northpower said repairs to the 800-900 faults on its network in Whangarei and Dargaville would cost about $900,000 from an annual repair budget of $1.46 million.

At its height the storm cut power to about 17,000 properties in the Far North and more than 10,000 in Whangarei and Dargaville.

NZTA, which is responsible for state highways said it was far too early to say how much a massive slip that has shut SH1 south of Kawakawa would cost to repair.

"Re-opening the highway is our number one priority - we all know how important a life-line the highway is to Northland, particularly to those people in the Bay of Islands and the Far North," NZTA's regional journey manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult said.

She said a washout affected a 70m-long section of the highway and left a drop from the highway into the valley below 8 to 10m deep. With contractors working 24/7 a temporary 100m-long detour past the washout could be in place by the end of the week.

However, a permanent solution - which could cost hundreds of thousands if not several million - would then have to be worked out and the cost of that wouldn't be known until a solution was agreed on, she said.

Whangarei District Council spokeswoman Ann Midson said the storm is estimated to have cost $1 million on repairs to roading alone. Ms Midson said the storm had caused widespread minor damage rather than any major issues.

"There's been a lot of potholes, surface flooding and trees down on our roads," she said.

The damage had been less than that caused by Cyclone Wilma in 2011, and far less than that caused by storms in 2007, but the final cost of last week's storm was still being assessed.

Far North District Council was concentrating on recovery work and would not have a tally on its total costs for several weeks, but it was again expected to be in the hundreds of thousands if not millions.

Kaipara District Council was not as badly hit as the Far North and Whangarei, and was assessing costs.

Insurance Council of NZ CEO Tim Grafton said the final cost of insurance claims from the storm would not be known for several months, but again this was likely to run into millions.

Roads expected to remain closed on Wednesday include SH1 South of Kawakawa, Patutahi Rd, Purua and Durham Rd, Waipu (both down to one lane closed, landslips), Bull Rd, Paparoa, Pukehuia Rd, Tangiteroria, Bob Taylor Rd, Tangiteroria, Waimatenui Rd, Nukutawhiti, Swamp Rd, Purua, Otakairangi Rd, Ruatangata West and Takitu Rd, Nukutawhiti.