Massive Power Outage Strikes New Zealand's Northland Region

Thousands of homes in New Zealand's Northland region lost power after a transmission tower collapsed. The outage affected around 200,000 residents and caused traffic light failures, with officials urging motorists to exercise caution. Rivers are near dangerous levels, further impacting roads and traffic due to flooding.

Thousands of homes in New Zealand's far north lost power on Thursday after a transmission tower collapsed, state-owned power transmitter Transpower said. The outage, which has impacted large parts of New Zealand's Northland region and home to about 200,000 residents, occurred at 11 a.m. (2300 GMT, Wednesday) following heavy rain.

"The tower fell while a second transmission circuit supplying these areas was out of service for scheduled maintenance. Transpower is assessing how long it will take to return that circuit to service," it said in a statement. The outage was affecting traffic lights as officials urged motorists exercise caution. Many rivers in the north are running near danger levels and flooding has impacted roads and traffic.

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