Storm Arwen: Homes without power for 12 days is 'best estimate'

The electricity supplier for the North East has warned that some homes will still be without power on Wednesday - 12 days after Storm Arwen struck.

Northern Powergrid (NP) said its "best estimate" was that all of its 6,600 customers still off would be connected by Thursday.

Earlier, a major incident was declared in Northumberland and the Army was drafted in to County Durham for help.

In Cumbria, 1,300 households were without electricity on Friday evening.

Regulator Ofgem has launched an "urgent" review into the energy network companies' response to the widespread cuts.

Jim Cardwell, head of policy development at NP, said it had restored connections to about 98% of its customers since the storm knocked out supplies to hundreds of thousands of homes across the north of England on 26 November.

"We've allocated 700 engineering projects to get people back on," he told BBC Look North. "Two hundred of those projects will be taking place up until Sunday with the other 500 to come.

"Our best estimate is that will take until the end of Wednesday for those 500 projects."

In response to criticism of NP's communication, he vowed it would "start publishing information on our website, sending text messages and, where we have a community presence, giving out information locally".

He added: "We don't want any distractions from getting the lights back on, communicating with our customers and helping with the welfare support with the other agencies involved in the emergencies that have been declared in County Durham and Northumberland."

Durham County Council called in troops, it said, because NP was "unable to confirm when supplies will be restored".

On Friday, soldiers distributed hundreds of emergency aid parcels to people entering a second week without power.

Frank Beddard, of Cowshill, was grateful for his but said it had come too late.

"I just wish they'd been here six days ago. Boris Johnson should have said 'there's a problem up north, get up there'."

Jessica Teasdale, from Stanley in County Durham, told the PA news agency: "People are frustrated and angry… everyone is getting ill.

"I saw my elderly neighbour yesterday, the poor man looked like he was going to cry. He's a vulnerable person but no-one has checked on him and he lives alone."

Her partner, Christopher Bertram, added: "I am sitting looking at Jessica now and she is a wreck. She hasn't slept or washed properly for a week. She's like a shell of a person. It is awful to watch."

Durham declared a major incident on Thursday with supplies to thousands of properties in areas including Teesdale and Weardale still off.

Amanda Hopgood, leader of Durham County Council, said she understood people were frustrated with the time it took to ramp up their response.

"Once we've made certain everyone is all right we will be looking to see what lessons can be learned.

"It wasn't that we weren't doing anything last weekend, we were, but as well as the power cuts we had roads blocked with snow."

Northumberland County Council cited "ongoing concerns" for affected communities when it announced its additional measures.

But there are also people who have questioned the amount of time it took for the authority to respond.

Joanne Riddell, the high sheriff of Northumberland, said: "Many people have told me there should have been a major incident declared on Saturday.

"Right now there is an urgent need for candles, torches, batteries, gas cylinders, camping stoves, hot water bottles and dry, cut firewood."

Jonathan Strutt, 43, lives in the small village of Kirkheaton in Northumberland, with his severely disabled 72-year-old mother, his wife and five-year-old son.

They lasted three nights in their home before it became too cold and friends in Hexham took them in.

He told the BBC: "We have had to move into a friend's living room with my mother sleeping on their sofa while we sleep on the floor with our child.

"We have received no proactive information from Northern Powergrid even though she is on their vulnerable list.

"Communication has been woefully inadequate.

"I'm now having to try and source a generator and electrician on my own to get some power as the website is saying we won't be reconnected until Wednesday.

"We have convinced our son that it's a big adventure and he has been very resilient, he has a great outlook and we're thankful for that.

"We have been helping elderly people in the village - some of them are in their 90s - and I am worried for them.

"We can keep up but it's a matter of time before they get poorly and sick."

Compensation cap scrapped

The energy regulator Ofgem has agreed new levels of compensation with the network companies for those affected by Storm Arwen:

Fiona Hanlon, a Lib Dem councillor on South Lakeland District Council, has been co-ordinating a support hub in Cartmel, Cumbria, for those affected by the power cuts.

She told BBC 5 Live: "The problem has been that there is no connection between the people who are trying to organise the fixing and the actual hard, real-time data - so people who are off are not able to contact Electricity North West (ENWL) and therefore the company doesn't know they are off.

"Their systems have been overwhelmed, we do understand that and we know they have engineers out but the situation is going to go into next week there's no doubt about that because the damage is so severe.

"We had an 86-year-old woman who needs to go into hospital has been told she will have an 13-hour wait in the cold. We were trying to bring the ambulance time down, but we had no means of doing it.

"A family we've been trying to help all week have livestock, two small children and the gable end of their house was pulled down when the pylon collapsed. It's still across their garden and drive.

"They've been in darkness since Friday. A van has been there today to assess it, but they can't give a date or time [to fix it].

ENWL said it had drafted in specialist engineers from elsewhere in the country but spokesperson Paul Bircham said he was "not sure the Army have the engineering capability to work on high voltage electricity networks".

ENWL said it had discussed how it could use Army support with logistics, providing generators and visiting vulnerable customers but had been "able to manage this locally".

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