Arabic version: ABC تستعيد أحداث انقطاع الكهرباء الشامل في جنوب أستراليا عام 2016
According to ABC News, South Australia was plunged into darkness on September 28, 2016, after major storms and tornadoes damaged power infrastructure. ABC reporter Tom Fedorowytsch and camera operator Stephen Opie were travelling north on Port Wakefield Road as heavy rain and massive clouds moved in, before reaching the Mid North town of Blyth.
Fedorowytsch said Blyth looked “almost like a war zone”, with roofs ripped off, including the church roof. Locals showed the crew footage of tornadoes cutting through the region. The tornadoes twisted large power pylons, beginning a chain of events that ultimately caused the statewide outage.
The blackout had serious local consequences. Businesses discarded refrigerated stock, slag solidified in the Port Pirie smelter’s blast furnace, and backup generators failed at Flinders Medical Centre. Intensive care patients had to be relocated, while families undergoing IVF lost stored embryos. In Port Pirie, Fedorowytsch and Opie found businesses closed and could not access their motel rooms. The local ABC bureau, powered by a generator, provided refuge, with then local manager Sarah Tomlinson preparing tinned soup and toast.
Power returned to Adelaide and some regional areas the following day, but many places remained without electricity. Flooded roads, fuel shortages and downed phone towers complicated reporting. On the Eyre Peninsula, restoring power took days and there were concerns that Port Lincoln could run short of water because pumps needed electricity. Then-premier Jay Weatherill travelled to the city as communications failures forced reporters to rely on satellite phones and an ABC satellite news gathering truck.
Television and online news access was limited as phones ran flat and connectivity failed, with ratings recording zeros. ABC Radio, operating as the official emergency broadcaster, continued to provide information to people using battery-powered radios. Weatherill also used radio broadcasts to update and reassure the public while more modern communications struggled.
