Lightning Cuts Power to 10,000+ Homes in South Australia

Wild storms swept through South Australia overnight, sparking dozens of fires and leaving thousands without power. A massive 47,000 lightning strikes hit the ground across the state, causing chaos from the Yorke Peninsula to the south-east.

Fires Still Burning in Kalangadoo and Ngarkat

Fire crews have been flat out battling blazes across the region, with many still burning this morning.

• Kalangadoo (about 411km from Adelaide) – Firefighters are still tackling a haystack fire, with five trucks on the scene.

• Ngarkat Conservation Park – A huge out-of-control blaze has already destroyed over 20,000 hectares and is expected to burn for days. Six trucks are on-site trying to contain the fire.

The SA Country Fire Service (CFS) says the fires were ignited by a significant number of dry lightning strikes. Crews have responded to over 100 incidents since 4pm yesterday, including trees and power lines brought down by lightning.

Mass Power Outages Across the State

The storms also left 10,908 homes without power, hitting towns across Yorke Peninsula and the south-east hard.

• Yorke Peninsula: Homes in Ardrossan, Arthurton, Clinton, Kainton, and Price are still without electricity.

• South-East SA: Towns including Penola, Coonawarra, Glenroy, Beachport, Boatswain Point, Bray, Clay Wells, and Conmurra are also affected.

Crews Working to Restore Power

SA Power Networks has dispatched extra crews from both regional and metro areas to fix the outages. However, with so many faults, power restoration is taking longer than usual.

Despite the dangerous conditions, SA Power Networks assured customers that the fires are not affecting restoration work.

For now, firefighters are continuing the battle, and power crews are working hard to get the lights back on. Stay safe and keep an eye on updates!