School's out, Harry Potter's in as Brunswick goes two days without power

For the Campbell and Henshaw kids a two-day power cut meant more time for Harry Potter games.

Brunswick School pupils have been off school for two days since it lost power along with more than 2000 other Whanganui properties during Tuesday night's wind.

While power was restored to much of the district on Wednesday, Brunswick was one area which endured a second night without power.

Brunswick's Campbell family have been using generator to keep the fridge cold and a barbecue to cook and heat water since they lost power at about 7pm on Tuesday.

"We've just carried on really," Richard Campbell said.

"We've got two extra kids in the house because other parents are working and the school's closed down."

Anna Campbell said the children had been keeping themselves occupied.

"They had their mates around. They've had time of school so it's been pretty sweet really."

Lily Henshaw has a bittersweet view on the outage.

"I'm sad because there's a power cut and we don't get to learn but I'm also happy because we get to go to each other's houses and have a fun time," she said.

"We're playing Harry Potter and we're pretending that we're going to play quidditch."

Liv Campbell, Sabrina Campbell, Amelia Campbell and Lily Henshaw play Harry Potter while the power was cut on Thursday. Photo / Zaryd Wilson

While Brunswick School was closed, it still held parent / teacher interviews in the afternoons as planned.

Powerco Network operations manager Phil Marsh said staff had been brought in from around the North Island and more than 200 people were now working on getting power restored to Taranaki and Whanganui.

"Dozens of power poles and numerous lines were brought down overnight Tuesday," he said.

"We understand how frustrating being without power is and we are working as hard as we can to get supply back on as safely and quickly as possible."