Taranaki farmers keeping 'fingers crossed' after power cuts hit farms

As the wait time increases the risks for cows getting mastitis grows.

Taranaki farmers are surveying the damage this morning following a wild night in New Plymouth.

Many have generators and are able to continue milking despite widespread power outages.

New regulations mean many have generators to ensure milk is kept at the right temperature.

A farmer ferrying coffee to neighbours told 1 NEWS she expected the power to back on by midday, but contractors working on the lines say it could take up 48 hours.

Powerco has crews in the region assessing the damage.

The state of emergency is in still in place.

Powerco reported that thousands of properties were affected yesterday, and outages continue today.

Farmer Matthew Grayling said they were experiencing "a beautiful day after a little bit of a rough 10 hours yesterday afternoon". 

He said they weren't in bad shape apart from a couple of trees down, "and no power".

Mr Grayling hasn't been able to milk the cows this morning, with complications such as mastitis if they have to wait for too long. 

"We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed."

He said the 48 hour prediction of no power "throws a spanner in the works" and possibly would mean a generated may be needed. 

Up to 10,000 residents are still without water, and 35 schools are affected. Many students have already been sent home, and won't return until water is running again.

New Plymouth Mayor Neil Holdem says a downed tree is to blame for the disruption.

 "We have had a tree come down and take out a critical pipe that supplies about 25 per cent of people in New Plymouth on town water supply."

A boil water notice remains in force, and may be in place for seven days. 

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