Damage to a section of powerline north of Whangamatā. Photo: Supplied / Powerco
More than 7000 homes on the Coromandel Peninsula and in Western Bay of Plenty will spend another night without power, after high winds ripped through the regions overnight on Saturday.
Most damage was caused by collapsed trees that brought down powerlines shortly after midnight.
Lines company Powerco said the largest outage area was in and around Whangamatā, where about 4800 customers had been cut off since the early hours of Sunday morning.
Crews patrolling the line running from Waihi to Whangamatā found a 600-metre span of line that had come down in a rugged area.
In Western Bay of Plenty, more than 2400 homes in the settlements of Katikati, Aongatete and Winden were affected.
Powerco head of network operations Mark Dunn said, while crews worked as quickly as possible to restore electricity to affected customers, people should prepare to be without power overnight.
"We know it's hard to be without power and we will do everything we can… but this storm has caused damage in a lot of different locations," he said.
"We will need time to make repairs to physical damage, such as restringing long sections of broken lines."
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