Community rallies behind TasNetworks and SES

Members of the community flooded the social media pages of both groups with messages of support throughout the day as crews worked through a series of incidents.

More than 4000 TasNetworks customers were left without power in the wake of severe winds.

Trees fell on powerlines at Fern Tree in the state’s South, and behind Ulverstone in the North.

The company updated its progress throughout the day via social media, thanking customers for their patience while providing details on different incidents. 

A TasNetworks spokesman said the positive feedback was welcomed by crews on the ground.

“The support we received via our social media channels from our customers was extremely gracious and wonderful to read,” she said.

“It boosts the morale of our crews and reminds us all of our core business of delivering power to Tasmanians.

“We are extremely pleased with how the network held up during the severe weather events over the past 48 hours.”

The State Emergency Service was also kept busy on Wednesday, receiving 18 requests for assistance. 

Calls ranged from trees falling on fences through to minor damage of outbuildings.

Tasmanian SES North regional coordinator Mhairi Revie said cooperation from the public assisted with some of the early call outs.

“We built up our operations centre at 4am on Wednesday and we began getting calls at 4.02am,” she said.

“Getting that first crew together always takes a little bit of time, but people were really patient with us.

“The feedback I have received indicated the public were also compliant with the warnings and advice we issued, which was great to see.”

The clean up continues for councils in the region, with some areas still feeling the effects of the storm.

A City of Launceston council spokesman said while there was no significant damage to infrastructure, there were some trees down across the municipality.

“We have closed the walking track at the Lilydale Falls Reserve so that our crews can remove a couple of trees which fell during the storm,” he said.

“We will advise the public when it's been re-opened.”