FOR lots of residents the descent of the year’s first snowflakes were a cause for celebration.
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Friday’s fall saw wide-eyed children bundled up in scarves and beanies and let loose in Orange’s winter wonderland, closely observed by smiling parents, usually with a phone or camera in hand.
Even though the recent deluge of rain meant the snow didn’t settle it was still great to see so many families take the opportunity to make memories that will last long after the cold weather has passed.
But the wild and windy conditions also presented several risks and perils.
Police and emergency services issued warnings about travelling on wet and icy roads.
Several of the region’s major thoroughfares were closed to avoid the all-too-common and tragic consequences of motorists not driving to the conditions.
Being Friday afternoon – a time when families traditionally load up the car to start their weekend getaways – made the closures even more imperitive.
Orange was not immune to the regional wave of sporting cancellations brought on by the deluge of the past two weeks, with Orange Hawks’ Group 10 rugby league game scheduled for Sunday at Wade Park cancelled, in addition to all of the senior soccer matches slated for Sir Jack Brabham Park on Saturday.
But the real cause for concern was the power outages of Friday afternoon.
For the young and healthy in our community this meant going without television and landline phone services for up to four hours, which is certainly an inconvenience but far from a life-threatening situation.
For the elderly or unwell the prospect of a night without electricity-powered heat was far more serious.
With temperatures predicted to fall well below zero degrees the absence of power for these people was a grave situation indeed.
So it’s a great credit to Essential Energy staff that services were, for the most part, resumed before the worst of the conditions set in on Friday night.
Essential Energy regional manager Mark Summers echoed these sentiments, praising the work of his crews in difficult conditions.
While questions can and will be asked about how the outages occurred in the first place no one can argue with the dedication of staff who restored power to thousands of homes at a time when most of us wouldn’t want to place a foot outside.