Our preparations

Each year Power and Water takes a range of measures to minimise the effects of storm and cyclone damage.

Electricity

• During the dry season we have a tree trimming program to keep street trees away from powerlines.
• We have installed lightning arrestors and insulated cross arms on thousands of power poles.
• We ask community members to check their tree branches are well clear of the powerline between their house and street and call us if they're not.
• We order additional stocks of powerpoles, cross arms, powerlines and other hardware essential to electricity supply before the Wet Season.
• Ongoing program of undergrounding power lines.
• Key staff members update, test and revise Emergency Management Plans.
• We train, prepare and test our staff to respond to emergency situations.

Water and sewerage services

• We have installed permanent, onsite standby generating capacity to operate major water and sewerage pumping stations in case of power outages.
• We are progressively been undergrounding fire hydrants to minimise damage to the water supply system through falling trees, flying debris, etc.
• We have additional stocks of pipes, fittings and other hardware to respond immediately to damaged water and sewerage infrastructure.
• We have identified critical water supply corridors and have developed plans to ensure those are kept open so water supply is maintained to locations such as hospitals, police stations, etc.
• Our water supply system is kept pressurised as long as possible in a flood or cyclone event to minimise risks of contamination.