Triple Zero Disrupted After Lightning Damages Cables

Early on Friday morning a Telstra cable pit in the New South Wales town of Orange suffered “significant fire damage” following “consistent lightning strike" which caused Tripe Zero service interruptions around the country. The impact is being mostly seen in NSW, with few issues elsewhere.

While Telstra have assured that services are “progressively” returning to normal, anyone unable to get through to the emergency line is being asked to call 131 444.

It’s still unclear how many people are being impacted, but Queensland Fire and Emergency Services have reported there was a five minute delay in receiving "non-life threatening" calls in the north coast region. Speaking to the ABC Sunshine Coast Police Superintendent Darryl Johnson explained, “Our business continuity plan kicked into place and those calls were redirected to Police Link in Brisbane.”

Similarly NSW Police Assisting Commissioner Mark Walton told TODAY “If people can't get through, they can call our police assistance line, and local police are also able to take calls."

On Twitter, Vodafone wrote that Victorians struggling to contact emergency services should “keep trying” and stressed they were “trying to call back any Vodafone customers who have attempted to call Triple Zero to check on their welfare and offer assistance.”

The lighting has also affected hundreds of traffic lights in Victoria, as well as disrupting telephone services and EFTPOS machines.

Telstra have confirmed on Twitter that they have a fibre repair crew on site.