What to do first
Someone's hurt, or there's fire: 000
Don't touch a person who may still be in contact with electricity. Keep everyone else back.
A line is down: Endeavour Energy, 131 003
Treat it as live and keep at least eight metres away. Watch for lines hidden in fallen branches and debris.
Water's coming in: stay out of it
Don't reach for the switchboard if it's wet or you'd be standing in water. The NSW SES is on 132 500 for flood or storm help.
Then the electrician
Once everyone's safe, a fault inside the home needs a licensed electrician. Leave anything that got wet, scorched or smoky switched off until they've seen it.
Flash floods come off the escarpment fast
On 18 August 1998, 316 mm of rain fell on Wollongong, mostly within about three hours. Water that rises that fast can reach power points and appliances before you've had time to think. Never touch anything electrical while you're standing in water, and don't switch anything back on that's been under water until a licensed electrician has checked it.
What Wollongong's weather does to the power
Summer thunderstorms
Warmer months bring lightning, heavy rain and sometimes hail. The December 2015 storm left thousands of homes in Bulli, Thirroul and Woonona without power.
Winter westerlies
July and August are the windiest months, with dry gales off the range that can gust over 100 km/h. Fallen branches and lines aren't only a summer problem here.
Bushfire in the north
Helensburgh, Otford and Stanwell Tops sat in the path of the 2001 to 2002 Black Christmas fires. Wollongong's disaster dashboard lists the NSW RFS for bushfires, alongside Endeavour Energy for outages.
Endeavour's outage tools
Endeavour posts real-time status on its online outage map and sends SMS updates about planned maintenance outages in your area.
Is it the network or your house?
If the streetlights and neighbours are out, it's Endeavour's to fix, and an electrician can't speed that up. Check the outage map or call 131 003.
If only your home is dark, go to the switchboard and reset a tripped safety switch once. If it trips again straight away, there's a fault in the house. If nothing has tripped, the problem may be the supply, so call Endeavour before you call anyone else.
A smell of burning, a buzzing board or a hot power point is an electrician's job, with that circuit off until they arrive. Electric shocks and burning smells explains the warning signs.
What you can do, and what waits for the electrician
You can
- Switch off the main switch from somewhere dry, if it's safe to reach.
- Reset a safety switch one time, with that circuit's appliances unplugged.
- Unplug anything that sparked, smelled hot or tripped the power.
- Jot down what happened and when, for the electrician.
Leave to a licensed electrician
- Power points, switches or appliances that got wet.
- A board that's scorched, buzzing or warm.
- A safety switch that keeps tripping.
- Checking the wiring after a lightning strike nearby.
Getting an urgent job through us
There's no after-hours line on this site. In the form, choose Something's not working, then Today, it's urgent. If we have a licence-checked Wollongong electrician who takes urgent fault work, the job goes to them and they'll get in touch. How quickly is up to them, so anything dangerous goes to 000 or Endeavour first.
If it happened at our place
We'd have 131 003 and 132 500 saved in every phone before the windy months, not just before summer. We'd know where the main switch is and keep a torch near it. And after any flood, we'd leave the power off and get an electrician in before anyone plugs the fridge back in.
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.