About 3000 Mid West and Wheatbelt residents still affected by massive power outage more than three days later

About 3000 households and businesses in the Mid West and Wheatbelt have entered their fourth day without power, remaining at the mercy of a massive outage that wreaked havoc across the region. Areas including Jurien Bay, Cervantes, Red Gully and Leeman are still being impacted by bushfires. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of customers in Geraldton and the Mid West lost power on Saturday night after thunderstorms swept through the region, damaging power poles and transmission lines. Most customers in Geraldton were without power for up to 24 hours, but others in the Mid West have been waiting 3½ days for electricity supplies to return. They include residents in Leeman, Green Head, Warradarge, Jurien Bay, Cervantes, Red Gully, Mogumber and Yarawindah. A high voltage injection unit has been installed in Jurien Bay, while six emergency response generators have been set up to power Cervantes. There are still an estimated 380 customers in southern Jurien Bay without power. “We aim to complete repair works on the main feeder line today,” a Western Power spokesperson said. More than 100 distribution or transmission poles were damaged in bushfires and storm activity over the weekend, with poles in active bushfire zones unable to be repaired until the blaze is under control. Western Power has been working with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services to safely access and repair damaged sites where possible. At time of publication, it was estimated that power in these areas would be restored by 6pm on Wednesday. “Those within the bushfire zone will not be able to be restored until crews are able to access the fire ground under the direction of DFES,” the Western Power spokesperson said. Jurien Bay resident Patrick Burns’ home has been disconnected from power since Saturday night. “Lack of information is an issue,” he said, as well as “lack of maintenance to services in rural areas”. Formerly working in risk management for an insurance company, Mr Burns wondered what sort of prevention was being undertaken to prevent outages happening whenever there was a bushfire or storm. Residents in Mogumber in the Wheatbelt are expected to be impacted for a longer time period due to bush fires in the area. Western Power said that assets in the area were significantly damaged and that they are in communication via text with those affected. The utility is also working with Telstra to ensure generators are used to keep essential telecommunication services up and running. Once power has been restored, customers who have experienced an outage for more than 12 consecutive hours can apply for an extended outage payment. To keep up to date, visit Western Power’s outages page: westernpower.com.au/outages/.