Hundreds of Cumbrian homes could be without power until Friday
Storm Arwen caused thousands of homes to be off the grid since last week
Last updated 6th Dec 2021
We're told hundreds of people across Cumbria could stay without power until Friday (3rd December) as teams continue to race to fix damage caused by Storm Arwen.
Millions of pounds of repairs are having to be made since the weekend's bad weather and it'll mean some families have had their electricity cut off for nearly a full week.
Electricity North West has restored power to more than 101,000 properties over the past few days after more than 800 separate incidents were reported on the network, and caused more than 110,000 properties to lose power.
Hundreds of engineers have been deployed to repair the network, with additional resource drafted in from the South of the country – with many describing the damage as the worst that they’ve ever seen.
Ministers are being urged to draft in the Army to help out.
Leader of Cumbria County Council, Cllr Stewart Young had this to say:
"I am calling on the county’s MPs to urge the Minister for Energy to do everything he can to get power supplies back on as quickly as possible.
"We are grateful to all engineers and staff working for Electricity North West who are working hard to repair significant damage across the network. Despite their efforts and working around the clock, thousands of homes and businesses have now been without electricity for 6 days. People are struggling to keep warm and this ongoing power outage is putting lives at risk.
"We need the Minister to ensure additional resources are identified as matter of urgency to help Electricity North West repair the severe damage and get the power connected."
Stephanie Trubshaw, Electricity North West’s Customer Director and Incident Manager, said: “We understand this is a difficult time for residents across the region who have been impacted and we’re doing all we can to try and repair the network as quickly as possible.
“We’re mobilising hundreds of engineers from across the country each day to help us combat the devastating effect of the storm. We’ve been able to restore power to thousands of properties but as we’ve carried out the crucial repairs, more faults have been found because of the severe damage.”
Customers who are without electricity are now able to view more accurate estimations of when the power will be restored to their homes on the network operator’s website.
Stephanie Trubshaw added: “Due to the damage on the network being so extensive right across the region, with so many separate incidents to rebuild and repair, it means some customers will remain off supply for a few more days. Where possible, we encourage those affected to make alternative arrangements and we are continuing to contact customers who may be in particularly vulnerable circumstances.”
Electricity North West’s customer contact centre has also received more than 60,000 calls and 6,000 outbound calls have been made to customers on the Priority Services Register.
The network operator is also continuing to work with key strategic partners to help supply residents with free hot food and drinks in Cumbria, the worst affected area, until power is fully restored.
Community hubs have also been set up at two locations in Cumbria – Coniston Sports and Social Centre and Ambleside Parish Centre – where people will have use of a kitchen, can charge electric devices and have access to support officers for help and advice.
People without power are urged to contact Electricity North West if they aren’t able to access the food and drink stations or community centres and it will get support to them.