NBN is continuing to assess potential damage in the Northern Territory following Tropical Cyclone Marcus. However, early indications are that its network infrastructure has survived unscathed, according to a spokesperson for the company.
The system passed over Darwin as a Category 2 system with sustained winds near the centre of 95 kilometres an hour and wind gusts up to 130 kilometres an hour, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Although there is no known damage to NBN’s infrastructure, services over the National Broadband Network require power. The company is working to deploy generators to areas that are currently without mains power.
“NBN continues to work with emergency services to safely attend sites to deploy generators to restore NBN services to affected residents and businesses,” NBN local media advisor Kasey Ellison told Computerworld.
The Greater Darwin area has been hit by power outages, according to NT Emergency Services.
In a statement issued yesterday NT Emergency Services encouraged people to stay off the roads while downed power lines are made safe and debris is removed.
“The lack of electricity has had an impact on traffic lights,” said Regional Controller Warren Jackson said in a statement.
“We only have about half of them working across the region.
“This hasn’t been helped by the fact that someone has stolen one of the generators being used to power traffic lights.”
Batchelor and Adelaide River has also been affected by the power outages, according to Jackson.
“It may take some time to restore electricity to nearly 26,000 homes affected because of the damage caused by the destructive Category 2 winds,” Jackson said.