Generators for Port Douglas and Mossman

Mossman's 4873 postcode counts 12 cyclones since 1970, about one every 4.7 years. Rona crossed the coast just north of Cow Bay in February 1999, with a storm surge of 1 metre at Port Douglas and 1.4 metres at the Mossman River mouth near Newell. Ita made landfall near Cape Flattery as a category 4 in April 2014, and Mossman waited a long time for power because crews couldn't get in.

Jasper crossed near Wujal Wujal as a category 2 in December 2023, but the rain that followed was the bigger story. Mossman South recorded 714 mm in 24 hours, Australia's highest December daily total, and the Daintree River at Daintree Village peaked at 14.85 metres, more than two metres above its 2019 record.

Two days after Jasper crossed, at least 6,000 Douglas Shire customers were still without power, and Ergon brought in 100 extra staff from other regions. On 17 December, 1,500 were off, and Ergon couldn't give restoration times until crews could safely reach flooded areas. Port Douglas had its water turned off because of an electrical fault, and Level 4 water restrictions were in place while the Mossman water treatment plant struggled to keep producing water.

It doesn't take a cyclone, either. In September 2023, a tree fell on the high-voltage network and cut power to 1,951 customers from Mossman, Cooya Beach and Newell up to Daintree and Wonga Beach. In October, fallen powerlines left 1,947 customers across the same stretch without power, and 518 were still off about four hours later.

• Fridge, lights, phones and a laptop: a 2 to 3.5 kVA inverter.
• Add the TV, microwave and fans: 3.5 to 5 kVA.
• The kettle, toaster and other short, heavy jobs: a portable power station rated above the appliance, so a small inverter can carry the rest.
• Most of a house or holiday unit, split system included: 7 to 10 kVA petrol, or 8 to 12 kVA diesel for long runs.
• A whole house with ducted air: 10 kVA and up, usually diesel.
• Shop, office or cool room backup: 10 to 20 kVA diesel.

Accommodation employs about one in five workers in Port Douglas and Craiglie, and cafes and restaurants almost one in ten. For a resort, restaurant or holiday let, a standby diesel with an automatic transfer switch starts itself when the grid drops, even with nobody on site. Our generator size calculator does the sums, or browse inverter and diesel generators.

Most kettles draw more power than a 2 kVA inverter can give, but only for a few minutes. A generator sized for that burns more fuel all day than a small inverter running the fridge and lights, so hand the kettle and toaster to a portable power station instead.

Our HY2000Si and HYPS2400 bundle is set up for exactly this, and the pair costs less than buying the two separately. The power station holds 1,843 Wh and its 2,400 W output covers most kettles (check the label), while the 2 kVA inverter looks after the fridge, lights and phone chargers and tops it up between jobs. Overnight, the power station is silent, so it can keep the essentials going with the generator off, and guests and close neighbours get a quiet night. In a town that runs on tourism, that counts. Browse all our portable power stations.

After Jasper, Mossman's hardware store had a rush of people buying generators, and Daintree Village was down to about a week of generator fuel. One Daintree Village business stayed closed when its emergency generator wouldn't reach full power. Buy before November, test-run it with the load it will carry, store fuel safely and start it once a month.

Most units up to 10 kVA ship free, and the rest are priced at checkout. Checkout prices are based on delivery to capital cities and major centres, so if your address costs more to reach, we'll call before dispatch with the difference, and you can go ahead or cancel for a full refund.

Most orders are dispatched within 1 to 5 business days and arrive within 3 to 8 business days of ordering, from our store or the supplier warehouse closest to you. Sets over about 1 tonne take 1 to 2 weeks to dispatch and need a forklift, crane or tractor forks on site, and we'll call first to confirm access. After Jasper, the Captain Cook Highway between Cairns and Port Douglas was closed from 18 December to 2 January, so order well before the wet.

Don't feed the house or a holiday unit through a power point. That's backfeeding: it's illegal, and it can kill line workers fixing the network. A licensed electrician fits a changeover switch and inlet so the generator runs your circuits safely (here's how a changeover switch installation works). Keep it outside, well away from doors, windows and guest rooms, because the exhaust can kill.