Power out? What to do before the electrician arrives

First, check whether it's just you

Look outside — are the street lights on? Are the neighbours' homes lit? If the whole street is out, it's a network outage: check the Energex outage map and report it. If it's only your home, the problem is on your side of the meter and an electrician is the right call.

Make things safe

If a safety switch has tripped, you can try resetting it once. If it trips again immediately, leave it off — something on that circuit is faulty and the switch is doing its job. Unplug appliances on the affected circuit before trying again.

If you smell burning, see smoke or sparks, or a switchboard or power point is hot to touch: keep everyone away from the area, don't touch anything electrical, and call straight away. If there's an active fire or immediate danger, call 000 first.

Never touch electrical equipment that's wet, sparking or hot, and never open a switchboard to investigate. Water and electricity — common after Redlands storms — is a combination that kills.

Then call

Call 0431 946 369 any time — emergency call-outs are answered 24/7 across the Redlands. You'll speak to someone who can talk you through making things safe while a local electrician is on the way.