Reporting by RNZ
04 November 2025, 6:40 AM
Storm damage in Clutha's rural Kakapuaka. Photo: RNZ / Charlotte CookJust over 300 people across Southland and South Otago remain without power since last month's damaging winds.
PowerNet said at its peak, more than 25,000 people lost power.
Both Southland and Clutha remain under a state of emergency with work underway to assess the scale of the damage, provide welfare support, fix damage and clean up.
PowerNet chief executive Paul Blue said it was encouraging to see numbers drop so significantly, but the company had not forgotten some customers had not had electricity for 13 days.
"Your patience and your kindness to our crews has been nothing short of outstanding," he said.
PowerNet had received hundreds of fault reports and were cross-checking them with what field crews were seeing on the ground, Blue said.
"We're now in what we call the 'tail' of the response. It can be challenging to pinpoint where the last of our faults are, or the causes of those faults.
"Rest assured we are still pushing hard to get to each of you, to understand what's required, and to get your power restored safely."
As of 2.30pm on Tuesday, 115 customers in Southland and 205 people in South Otago did not have power.
Community hubs remain open across Southland and parts of South Otago.
Emergency Management Southland said many parks, reserves, cemeteries and playgrounds in Invercargill, Bluff, and the Southland District remained closed.
"These areas are closed for a reason - they are dangerous and by entering you put yourself and potentially our emergency responders at risk if you need their assistance," a spokesperson said.
Southland District Council had an estimated 15,000 trees to assess with more than 1000 deemed safe and another 60 needing some work.
Invercargill City Council estimated more than 1000 trees were potentially damaged and many parks and reserves needed a clean-up.
Emergency Management Southland said people should not collect firewood or enter storm-affected areas as wood from fallen trees in parks would be made available when it was safe.
The state of emergency is due to lapse on Friday.
A community BBQ will be held at Woodend on Friday, hosted by Rural Support Trust, Emergency Management Southland, DairyNZ and others.
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