After devastating storms hit on Friday, large-scale generators were quickly dispatched to the South Australian outback, cutting power to entire communities.
Businesses and institutions in Leigh Creek and Hawker have closed due to the continuous power outages.
Residents are angry and want a permanent backup power supply.
Among those impacted is the sole supermarket in Leigh Creek, where fresh, perishable product is progressively going bad.
“We’ve got the product here, but nobody has a fridge in town now, so nobody’s buying it,” owner Mel Bowden said.
At her IGA, Bowden has already spent more than $2,000 on fuel for a generator.
“People in the outback are pretty resilient people, but just because we’re resilient, doesn’t mean we have to go with less,” according to her.
The Copley region is affected, among other things, by a cafe, a caravan park, and a tavern.
The state’s power distributor, SA Power Networks, is sending huge backup generators to the impacted regions immediately.
Although Hawker is anticipated to have power restored by Monday evening, residents of Leigh Creek will need to patiently wait until Tuesday afternoon at the latest.
SA Power Networks’ Cecilia Schutz stated, “We’re talking about large backup generators that need to be able to service hundreds of customers.”
She went on to clarify that the topic at hand was not small-scale household level generation.
