The Gunnedah mum was among more than 600 households across the district left stranded without electricity late last week.  

“To be honest just coping,” Ms Scott told the NVI.

“With five kids and no power it’s very hard to keep cool.” 

“Obviously I'm not going to take them out in the heat of the day, all day to swim, but we are lucky enough to have a dam to swim in.”

Essential Energy’s northern community relations manager David Crough said storms and high winds overnight Thursday felled a power pole on Wandobah Road which caused a number of secondary faults on the electricity network. 

After the first power outage at 6.07pm Thursday, almost 400 customers had their service reinstated before midnight, and nearly 200 more by 10am the next day.   

The electricity provider expected to have power restored to all affected premises by 4pm Friday but that was not achieved until 4.17pm.

Ms Scott said it was particularly frustrating for her family as the fallen power pole was located in the paddock right next door.

Other residents affected by the blackouts empathised with Janelle’s plight on social media, highlighting the high number of unplanned power outages in the area recently.

In a statement to the NVI, Essential Energy northern regional manager Mark Summers said the Gunnedah outages were not isolated and among about 8000 region-wide.

“After storm events, Essential Energy ensures the safety of the public and their property and then restores power to customers as quickly as conditions will allow,” Mr Summers said.

Power restoration times will always depend on the amount of network damage, the number of customers affected, and crews’ access to the network to repair the damage.

Storms caused significant damage to the electricity network last Thursday with around 8000 households and businesses in the region affected by an unplanned power outage as a result.

Crews worked as quickly as safety allowed and restored power to more than half those impacted by an unplanned power outage in Gunnedah and surrounding areas in 78 minutes. They then worked into Friday morning and throughout the day to ensure power was progressively restored to all customers in the Gunnedah area by 4.17pm.

In Friday’s heat, crews replaced major electricity infrastructure in Gunnedah to ensure power was restored as quickly as possible for 100 customers still impacted by the power outage as a result of Thursday’s storm. While undertaking this work, crews managed their health and safety through keeping hydrated and taking regular breaks.

Essential Energy made an estimated restoration time available to customers in Gunnedah so that they could make alternative arrangements if necessary. Customers are encouraged to have a contingency plan in place for when power supplies are impacted, either for planned work or as a result of faults and emergencies.

Across the region, crews continued to work into the weekend to restore power to all households and businesses.”