Storms causing power outages in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania were caused by Cyclone Pancho, which rounded the south-western corner of Australia. It then blew out to sea before intensifying and causing mayhem across south-eastern Australia on Wednesday 2 April 2008. The Bureau of Meteorology’s severe weather expert Kevin Parkyn says the magnitude of the storms was unusual for the time of year. In Victoria, the State Emergency Service took at least 2200 calls by Wednesday evening, when 200,000 homes were left without power. Alinta representative Scott Parker says the damage to the network is unprecedented. “This remains our worst ever weather-related emergency. The volume of work is just unprecedented,” he said. In Tasmania, Aurora Energy crews worked to restore power to more than 36,000 homes across Hobart as the winds brought down power lines. About 5000 homes were also without power in the north and north-west of the state, according to the Hobart Mercury. In South Australia 28,000 residential and business customers were affected by the storm across metropolitan and regional SA.
