Storm leaves thousands of New Zealand homes without power

Thousands of homes in storm-ravaged parts of the North Island of New Zealand remain without power.

Lines company Powerco said they will work through the night to restore electricity to 4500 customers in south Taranaki and Wanganui regions, including dairy farmers who are struggling to milk cows without power.

The 4500 properties currently without power is a drop from 30,000 properties yesterday morning.

Powerco adds that power has been restored to 84% of the households that lost power during yesterday's storm.

Around 600 overhead lines were brought down and a large number of poles damaged in South Taranaki and Wanganui.

The lines company said that is has made good progress working on the damaged network.

The pockets of areas most affected include Patea, Waitotara, Waverley, and remote areas between Whanganui and Raetihi.

owerco General Manager Electricity Andrew McLeod said tonight that all available resources were sent into those areas.

Inspections completed yesterday have confirmed the damage to the electricity network is severe, with some sections needing to be completely rebuilt.

Some customers may still have to wait three to four days for power to be restored, where access is difficult or damage is extensive, said the company.

"Our first priority is making the network safe. The high number of damaged lines mean there are still many down and they must be treated as live at all times," said McLeod.

For the source of this story, click here.