High winds and Total Fire Ban - 2 September 12:30pm

Endeavour Energy emergency crews are working to make safe and repair the extensive damage caused by today’s damaging winds, which has disrupted power across the Southern Highlands, Shoalhaven, Illawarra, and Blue Mountains.

The strong winds have interrupted power to 34,000 homes and businesses, with more than 80 incidents requiring repair.

More outages are possible as the damaging winds continue to bring down trees and powerlines, with many areas within the Endeavour Energy network being impacted.

Due to the extreme fire danger and Total Fire Ban, we’re taking additional precautions to keep the community safe.

We have changed protection settings across the network due to today’s Total Fire Ban to minimise the potential risk of powerlines igniting bushfires.

With our Total Fire Ban protection settings in place, we are doing everything we can to keep you connected to a safe and reliable power supply by:

• resourcing up our frontline crews to be able to complete safety inspections to restore power after unplanned interruptions
• not undertaking “hot work” in the field using tools with the potential to spark fires
• enabling bushfire defence settings on parts of our network to prevent electrical faults igniting bushfires.

Today’s high fire rating is a timely reminder that the bushfire season is upon us, with the danger period running from September to March. For further tips on what customers can do to stay bushfire safe >> https://www.endeavourenergy.com.au/safety/bushfire-safety/bushfire-information-for-our-customers/higher-fire-danger-days.

What customers can do to stay safe:

• Please stay at least 8 metres away from any fallen powerlines. Treat all powerlines as 'live' and dangerous. Never drive across fallen powerlines!
• Report fallen powerlines immediately by calling us 24/7 on 131 003.
• Avoid all contact with wires that are hanging low, on the ground or tangled in trees and other storm debris.
• For life-threatening emergencies call 000.
• For emergency and rescue assistance call NSW SES on 132 500.
• Find estimated power restoration times at www.endeavourenergy.com.au/outage
• If you or anyone living at your home need power for home medical equipment, check your battery supply and consider acting on your back up plan. Contact us now on 131 003 to register for life support.