Club Helping Locals After Storm Cuts Power to Broken Hill and Surrounds

Transgrid is rushing to fix the damage caused by a severe storm that struck Far West NSW on Wednesday night and restore power to the region, with locals now relying on generators.

Broken Hill Musicians Club has become an emergency centre and will accommodate hundreds of locals, as well as ensure essential services remain available. 

“The Club will be used to provide meals and air cooling to the most vulnerable people in Broken Hill, plus the entire community,” said Broken Hill Musicians Club General Manager Michael Boland. 

“We will house medication and vaccinations fridges for the local non-government health services.

“We will more than likely have to close the Club’s cinema for at least two weeks; however the Club will pay full wages to all cinema staff and we will host a free movie weekend to thank the community once normality returns.”

A brief but intense burst of strong winds and heavy hail impacted an area south of Broken Hill on Wednesday, damaging a section of the 220,000-volt powerlines that deliver electricity to the city and nearby communities, leading to an outage around midnight.

The loss of power is affecting an estimated 10,000 residents from Wilcannia and Menindee to Tibooburra and up to the Queensland border.

Transgrid, the owner of the power infrastructure, said that their teams are addressing the damage, but the repairs are expected to take a few weeks.

On Thursday afternoon, Barwon MP Roy Butler announced on social media that power from generators “may require the use of rotational load sharing”. This means towns in the region will be on and off with power supply as they will be required take turns in using the generators’ supply.

Locals are being asked to conserve any power use, particularly between 5.30pm and 10.30pm each day.

Michael Boland also said that he had spoken with Wilcannia Golf Club, 200-kilometres east of Broken Hill and that “they are fine and providing for the community.”

“The Golf Club at Wilcannia now has a generator, but the NBN and mobile phone service was down for most of the day yesterday,” he said.

“They are providing a service for locals and visitors to recharge their phone, make calls to loved ones via Wi-Fi, and have a cold drink and a hot meal.”

However, it’s understood the Club will begin to struggle to remain operational with generator diesel expected to begin running low as the days drag on.

Michael says the Broken Hill Musicians Club will do all it can to transport diesel to the town in order to keep the power going.

“If there are any other clubs that can provide help in this regard, I’m sure it would be gratefully received,” he said.

Any clubs in a position to help can contact ClubASSIST on 1300 730 001 or via [email protected].