Learning more about storm safety
For current warnings and safety advice visit the State Emergency Service (SES) website or call 132 500 for SES attendance. Check or report a power outage with us.
Severe weather can happen any time bringing damaging winds, hail, heavy rainfall, or thunder and lightning. Extreme weather can lead to significant damage on the electricity network which powers your home, business or community property.
Most times it is due to interaction with vegetation – trees and tree limbs brought down on overhead powerlines. But it can also be due to wind-borne debris including fencing and roof sheeting, outdoor settings and even trampolines! Sometimes lightning strikes can damage insulators or even cut lines.
Whatever the cause, if you spot a downed power line keep yourself and others at least 10 metres clear, as it may still be live and could cause a severe electric shock or electrocution.
Call 000 or us on 13 13 66 and we will get a crew to site as soon as we can.
What to do before the storm
By knowing what to do before, during and after a storm you can help reduce the effects on you, your family, home and business.
- Anyone relying on powered medical equipment, must ensure you have a back-up plan in place
- Check that loose items such as outdoor settings, umbrellas and trampolines are safely secured
- If it is safe to do so, check gutters, downpipes and drains are not blocked
- Have a battery-powered radio and monitor your local ABC radio station to keep up with the latest weather conditions and emergency warnings
- Stock up on batteries for torches, radios and other equipment
- Keep mobile phones and other devices charged, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X so that we can keep you updated
- Unplug electronic equipment that may be affected by a power surge or flooding
What to do during the storm
- Wires down: stay at least a bus length (10 metres) away and do not touch or go near fallen or low hanging power lines or equipment, they may still have power which can cause serious injury or death. Report wires down to us immediately on 13 13 66
- Wires down: what to do if you contact a powerline
- Be prepared for power outages
- Stay indoors and away from windows
- Floodwater is dangerous – never drive, walk or ride through floodwater
- Floodwater is toxic – never play or swim in floodwater
- Listen to your local ABC radio station to keep up with the latest weather conditions and emergency warnings
- Follow us on Facebook and Twitter so that we can keep you updated
What to do after the storm
- Check your home and property for damage
- Keep clear of damaged buildings, powerlines and trees
- Be aware of road hazards such as floodwater, debris and damaged roads or bridges
- Do not drive through affected areas unless it is necessary
- If you have been without power for 20 hours or more, you may receive a guaranteed service level payment (GSL) which is part of a service scheme put in place by the Essential Services Commission of SA (ESCoSA).
- A flat payment will be made to the account holder automatically credited to your retailer and reflected in a subsequent electricity account
- You can find the ESCoSA fact sheet on GSLs: ESCoSA_GSL Scheme Fact Sheet
| Threshold One | Threshold Two | Threshold Three | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration (hours) | Total annual duration of the power outage is more than 20 and up to and including 30 | Total annual duration of the power outage is more than 30 and up to and including 60 | Total annual duration of the power outage is more than 60 |
| Payment |
$100* |
$150* | $300* |
*payments include GST and are subject to change.
We do everything we can restore power as soon as possible. When we know there is some bad weather on the way, we will plan in a way to ensure we have maximum resources available, including our own field crews and external contractors, so they are available when really needed.
In extreme weather, there may be outages at multiple locations and this means we will need to prioritise our response. We do this using a well-tried list of priorities to ensure we support emergency services, key facilities such as hospitals, and telecommunications, and we then work to restore power to lines where the most customers are affected.
A key issue in responding to State-wide outages in a major storm event is the number of outages we have and also our priority of making safe all wires-down. We then work through our restoration priorities and that means it will take longer before some customers have their power restored.
Also, our crews may not be able to work safely during extreme conditions because it’s too windy, fallen trees or branches need to be cleared, or wet ground prevents access to off road areas.