VILLAGERS at Croft in Warrington have at long last had their power restored following three “awful” days and nights after Storm Arwen saw more than 600 separate incidents of damage across the North West.
The situation was compounded by a fault on the emergency phone number for people to report faults!
Croft Cllr. Val Allen said: “I’d like to thank the Electricity NW engineers for restoring power to residents in Croft.
“It’s been an awful three days and nights in the false hope that power would be restored quickly, when in fact an emergency call back IT system had failed to log the calls.
“My fears were confirmed, the fault hadn’t been registered. There are some serious questions to answer when an emergency number to report all faults failed and left people in a dire situation with temperatures plummeting. Thankfully we can get our homes warm again and I’d like to say thank you to the residents of Sandy Brow and Stone Pit Lane for helping each other in their time of need’
Meanwhile suppliers Electricity North West say treacherous conditions including strong winds and heavy snow saw more than 600 separate incidents of damage on the power network leading to 92,000 properties being without power.
Engineers have now been able to restore power to 81,000 properties and today Electricity North West has also drafted in 16 additional overhead lines teams from the South East and Isle of Man.
Stephanie Trubshaw, Customer Director and Incident Manager for Electricity North West, said: “The damage caused by Storm Arwen is some of the worst we have ever seen in the North West.
“It’s extremely severe and widespread across the region and that is why we have drafted in further resources from across the country to help tackle the incidents.”
Repairs to the power network include removing trees from lines, repairing broken lines and poles that have been damaged by flying debris and falling trees.
As well as the additional resources to help restore power, Electricity North West is also working with partners including Cumbria County Council and British Red Cross whilst food vans are also being sent to areas across Cumbria.
Stephanie Trubshaw added: “We understand this is an extremely difficult situation for all of our customers who have been impacted.
“Our customer contact centre has handled more than 50,000 inbound calls and we are still proactively contacting those on our Priority Services Register.
“I assure everybody we are doing everything we can, and our teams are working tirelessly to ensure power is restored.”
Customers are advised to check the website and social media for updates and advice, and only call 105 if the issue is urgent to help prioritise those who need help most, or to report dangerous situations such as fallen lines.
Villagers facing third night without heat or light since Storm Arwen
