Power back on

Power is slowly being restored to homes on Aitutaki as substations are being fixed.

Aitutaki resident Maki Toko, who was manning the cyclone shelter yesterday, reported that a number of homes had electricity.

He said that Aitutaki Power Supply staff were working hard to fix sub stations across the island including the rebuilding of power poles and fixing of broken power lines.

The island had lost power during cyclone Pat which struck the island in the early hours of Wednesday.

Due to the loss of power, shops had to sell defrosted products at heavily discounted prices but families weren’t able to take full advantage of the discounts as they too had no power to run fridges and freezers to preserve food.

Toko also reported that with some of the substations fixed, the water pumps have been able to work again and had started reticulating water to homes in some parts of the island.

Toko sounded upbeat as he told Cook Islands News the good progress that was being made in restoring power and water to homes in Aitutaki.

Aitutaki MP Junior Maoate told government officials that with the return of power and water, the cleanup and rebuilding process on the island could be moved along quickly. - MW