BROKEN Hill remained without power as of Tuesday morning after the sole diesel generator powering the town since a powerline collapse overheated at 5pm on Monday.

The diesel generator had been in use since powerlines collapsed last Wednesday night in a possible tornado.

A Transgrid spokesperson said the network operator continued to investigate the cause of the generator’s failure, and more generators were on the way.

Power was expected to be returned on Tuesday afternoon.

Telstra communications were also lost, and a spokesperson said it hoped to restore phone services by 1pm on Tuesday.

Due to the outages, six public schools in Broken Hill were not operational on Tuesday: Alma, Broken Hill, Burke Ward, Morgan Street and Railway Town public schools, and School of the Air.

The mines remained closed, and most supermarkets and cafes were also unable to open on Tuesday morning.

Coles, which has its own generator, were open, along with the OTR service station in South Broken Hill, and J&K Stores Deli on Oxide Street.

The RFDS Wellbeing Place centre was open, offering free tea and coffee, and access to power for those who need it. Local cafe The Deli provided free baked goods for those using the centre.

The temperature in the Far West was forecast to reach 35 degrees on Tuesday afternoon. At 10.02am, the temperature reached 28.7 degrees.

A respite centre in Menindee was opened for residents to use to stay cool and charge devices. Work was under way to open a respite centre at Wilcannia Hall and another in White Cliffs, either at the hall or sports ground.

Broken Hill was declared a Natural Disaster Zone by Federal and State governments, which will allow disaster recovery funding to help local councils with the cost of restoring damaged essential public assets and clean-up efforts.