The first few minutes
Is anyone hurt, or is something burning?
Call 000. If someone may still be touching a live appliance or wire, don't touch them.
Is a line down, sparking or tangled in a tree?
Assume it's live. Keep well clear and ring Energex on 13 19 62, which takes calls 24 hours a day. Watch for lines hidden under branches after a storm.
Is the house wet, or was it under water?
Leave everything off, and only reach the main switch if you can do it without standing in water or touching anything wet. Roof torn open or a tree through the house? Ring the SES on 132 500.
Is it only your place that's out?
Check whether a safety switch has tripped. Reset it once with appliances unplugged. If it trips again or won't reset, leave it off for an electrician.
How Gold Coast emergencies tend to happen
Summer storms knock out the network
The storms on Christmas evening 2023 led to 60 Gold Coast localities being activated for disaster assistance while energy crews worked around the clock on fallen lines. Across Queensland more than 120,000 homes and businesses lost power, and three days later more than 43,000 people were still waiting.
Cyclones reach this far south
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred hit with gusts over 100 km/h on 7 March 2025. Large pines came down in Kirra, and more than 500,000 people across South East Queensland and northern New South Wales lost power at some point.
Hail arrives fast
On 31 October 2020, warnings covered Southport and Coomera among other areas, and 95,000 homes across South East Queensland lost power.
Rivers and canals can rise
In January 1974 the Nerang River flooded, about 2,000 people were evacuated from homes along the river and canals, and most of those homes were damaged. Water in wiring or a switchboard means the power stays off until a licensed electrician has checked it.
Gold Coast numbers to save today
| What's happening | Who to call | |
|---|---|---|
| Fire, smoke, or someone has had a serious shock | 000 | |
| Fallen or sparking power line, or a tingle from a tap or appliance | Energex, 13 19 62, any time | |
| Power out in the street or suburb | Energex, 13 62 62, or its online Outage Finder | |
| Tree on the roof or water coming in | SES, 132 500 | |
| Fault inside your home: tripping, scorching, buzzing, half the house dead | A licensed electrician |
When it really is an electrician's job
If the neighbours have lights and you don't, the problem is usually on your side of the meter. A safety switch that won't stay on, a power point that's scorched or hot, a burning smell from the switchboard, or a circuit that's gone dead after rain all need a licensed electrician, with that circuit left off until they've looked.
One Queensland rule matters in a hurry: an electrician normally can't do installation work in a home with no approved safety switch on the power points unless the job includes fitting one. Emergencies are one of the listed exceptions, so the urgent fault can be made safe first. Expect them to recommend the safety switch straight after.
Getting an urgent job to an electrician through us
There's no 24-hour line here. Pick Something's not working in the form and choose Today, it's urgent. If we have a licence-checked electrician on the Gold Coast who does urgent fault work, we pass your job straight to them and they call you. We can't promise how fast, especially straight after a big storm, so make the house safe and don't wait on us for anything dangerous.
What you can do, and what you can't
You can
- Switch off at the main switch, if you can reach it dry and safely.
- Reset a tripped safety switch once, with appliances on that circuit unplugged.
- Unplug anything that sparked, smelled hot or got wet, and leave it unplugged.
- Check Energex's Outage Finder before assuming the fault is yours.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- Anything scorched, melted, smoking or buzzing behind a cover.
- Testing wiring, outdoor power and pontoon lights after water got in.
- Finding why a safety switch trips the moment it's reset.
- Making a storm-damaged meter box or switchboard safe to use again.
What we'd have ready before storm season
We'd put 13 19 62 and 13 62 62 in every phone in the house, find the main switch with a torch while it's calm, and press each safety switch's test button so we know it works. On a canal block, we'd also know which circuit runs the pontoon and outdoor lights, so it can be switched off on its own when the water's up.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.