Cat that caused an estimated 25,000 properties in Napier and Hastings to lose power dies, owner sought

Many Napier residents took to social media to share their frustration at the outage. Photo / 123RF

A Napier vet is searching for the owner of a dead cat thought to have caused an electrical explosion that cut power to an estimated 25,000 properties and businesses on Wednesday night.

Transpower NZ shared on social media that a cat connected with live electrical equipment which caused an electrical explosion at Redclyffe substation last night.

There were reports of outages from all of Napier north to Putorino and at Te Pohue on State Highway 5.

According to the Unison website, the first outages began around 6.45pm.

Transpower provided an update at 7.25pm explaining the power had been restored.

A staff member at Taradale Vet Hospital confirmed that a dead grey tabby cat with no microchip found at Redclyffe substation last night had been brought in on Thursday morning.

The staff member said no owner had come forward to claim the cat as of 9.50am.

- Additional reporting by RNZ