Extreme weather tests NZ radio network

In a country affectionately known by the locals as ‘Godzone’, the people of the Canterbury district in New Zealand must be wondering what they have done to offend the weather gods so badly.

In the past few years the region has had to endure almost direct hits by three devastating earthquakes and over 12,000 aftershocks, many of which would be considered serious earthquakes in their own right. Following on from that, Christchurch was hit by a number of once-in-a-100-year snowstorm events followed by extensive floods washing away damaged river beds and further damaging infrastructure.

Recently the region was hit by a 24-hour extreme wind event. Winds of up to 259 kilometres per hour brought down trees, lifted roofs and damaged over 800 irrigators on the plains. When the winds abated, 20,000 homes were without power.

It is in this environment, having an intelligent network with reliable wide-area, high-performance communications systems is a clear advantage to assist power restoration in the fastest possible manner. Early reports from power provider Orion indicated that its MiMOMax radio system did not miss a beat even during the worst part of the storm, enabling ground crews to quickly identify faults and begin rectifying them.

MiMOMax’s CEO, Paul Daigneault, said that the company could not have had a better environment in which to test its radio systems.

Extreme weather hit the Canterbury district in New Zealand.