Power supply has been restored in Vava’u under the impact of Cyclone Ian and the restoration work are in full swing today to repair some of the damages to the service lines for 11 remaining customers.
On Saturday, 11th January 2014 the linesmen carried out major clearance work to clear trees from power lines and to disconnect service lines to homes which were damaged by the Cyclone.
The power generation in Vava’u was switched off at 4:50 am on the 11th of January when the strength of the cyclone reached 40 knots and continued to increase with heavy rain. This was to ensure the safety of the people and to avoid any damage that may be caused to the power generator.
About 34 villages where power supply was disrupted due to the cyclone that crossed the main island of Vava’u on Saturday morning, was restored starting from Mataika to Leimatu’a, Lupepau’u Airport and from Vaimalo to Longomapu.
Day two for restoring normalcy in majority of areas in the Island continued on Sunday, 12th January 2014 from Holonga to Koloa, Pangaimotu to Talihau, Ha’akio and Houma, Faama to Okoa.
The power supply to Houmalei was restored on Monday, 13th January 2014. With the situation in Vava’u improving each day the restoration of damaged service lines to the remaining homes will be completed by the end of the week.
According to Jenny Lalahi, Tonga Power’s Manager in Vava’u “99 % of the customers connection have been restored and the remaining 1 % are still without power because their service lines were damaged by the cyclone”.
“We would like to advise those customers who have had power poles damaged by the Cyclone to please reinstall their local power poles and advise us so to reconnect their power supply ”, said Jenny.
The distribution team will continue working in Vava’u to repair the remaining faults which were reported on Monday, 13th January 2014.
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