Australian state loses power as strong storm lashes region

[webfact]

Australian state loses power as strong storm lashes region 

 

SYDNEY (AP) — An entire Australian state lost power as a strong storm lashed the region Wednesday, causing traffic chaos, stranding people in elevators and prompting police to warn residents to stay inside.

 

South Australia state Premier Jay Weatherill blamed extreme weather for the power outage, which occurred as heavy rain and fierce winds swept across the state that is home to 1.7 million people.

 

"It's obviously a very significant event that could take down so much infrastructure and destroy so much of the system," Weatherill told reporters in the state capital, Adelaide.

 

Most traffic lights were knocked out, causing gridlock across the state. Police were responding to several reports of people stuck in elevators, and emergency services and hospitals were running on back-up power, state police Commissioner Grant Stevens said.

 

Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said 90 percent of the state's households had power restored by Thursday morning, with 80,000 people north of Adelaide yet to be reconnected.

 

Lightning had struck a power plant and at least 22 transmission towers had been toppled by high winds. That led to an electricity surge that triggered a safety switch that shut down the network, Frydenberg said.

 

"This was a one in 50 year event, these were 80,000 lightning strikes a cross the state last night as well as cyclonic winds. Now we haven't seen a failure across the electricity system as we saw last night in South Australia," Frydenberg told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

 

Frydenberg said he would call state leaders together to discuss how a repeat of such an outage could be avoided.

 

State Emergency Service spokesman terry Dwyer said all traffic lights were working by Thursday morning, but the outrage had resulted in traffic accidents.

 

Emergency teams were likely to remain busy for the next 24 hours assisting people with flood and storm damage as well as fallen trees, Dwyer said.

 

The storm was expected to continue pummeling the region through Thursday, with wind gusts exceeding 100 kilometers an hour (60 miles an hour) in places, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Rainfall totals could reach as high as 10 centimeters (4 inches) in spots, the bureau said.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-09-29

[ebonykap]

Shouldn't have been a problem. Adelaide has been in the dark ages as long as I can remember 

[tifino]

 

... and then the Oppositon gets onto the band wagon...

 

... and started sprouting off about  "embarassment" - about the felling of the major power poles.

 

the Gov't spokesman responded - about that it was a very big once in a lifetime blow,

and starts shaking his head at the imbiciles