People could freeze to death in Storm Darragh power cuts, councillor says
Getty ImagesOne councilor said people were “going to freeze to death” due to a lack of heating due to power outages in the days following Storm Dara.
Iwan Ward, MP for Boncath and Clydau in Pembrokeshire, said residents had been without power since 02:00 GMT on Saturday and warned it would not be until 22:00 on Thursday. Restore power.
Thousands of people are still without power three days after the storm hit.
National Grid called it “the biggest storm our region has faced in decades.”
Ward said people were dying “not directly from the storm, but from lack of power, lack of heat, and then lack of food.”
“We need to prioritize things like hospitals, schools, but I’m sorry to say that we’re also letting people in rural areas freeze to death,” he said.
“It saddens me that people are going to freeze to death, but I’m worried that’s going to happen and we need to take appropriate measures.”
Senedd chair Elin Jones said in an update on her Facebook page that the scale of the outage was “significant and silent”.
According to National Grid, nearly 12,000 homes were still without power in south and west Wales as of 17:00 on Tuesday, while Scottish Power said 2,000 homes were still without power in central and north Wales.
National Grid operations director Steven Joseph said although Storm Dara had passed, damage was still occurring in some areas.
“Some of the trees that didn’t fall over the weekend are now starting to fall, so as we repair some of them, we’re finding new faults.”
Openreach said around 6,500 customers across Wales had their internet services affected by Storm Dara, with 40 poles and 50 overhead cables collapsing in the strong winds.
In Heol y Glyn, near Cymmer, Neath Port Talbot, people said they had been without power since Friday.
Charlie Price, 67, said the situation was “so bad” he had thrown his “ruined” Christmas food into the rubbish tip.
“I’m a pensioner and I can’t lose that,” he said.
“National Grid should have sorted this out by now. Or they could put a generator in here. It’s disgusting and I’m furious.”
His next-door neighbor Carl Glave said the surrounding villages still had electricity but he had “nothing”.
“I just had to cope because I had a wood stove in one room but the rest of the house was frozen.”
Meanwhile, sisters Nina and Terry Campling said they were “devastated” but trying to support their neighbours.
“It was cold but we missed the light because at 16:00 the candles didn’t give out as much light.
“We also had cold food because we had no gas and all the food in the refrigerator and freezer was lost.
“It was like going back to the war.”
A leisure center in Landissur, Ceredigion, has been providing facilities since Monday morning.
Karon Tesur said on social media that people can take a shower, charge their phones and drink hot drinks.
Martin Spencer from the leisure center said around 25 people used the services.
“Smaller communities have been really affected by the weather. Power was only restored at 03:00 this morning, so we’ve been without power for three days.”
He said service will be available until the end of the week.
“We were lucky enough to not have any storm damage, so we are not only open to our members but a safe haven for anyone.”
Alun Jones, 82, of nearby Helllan, has been without power since Saturday.
He said being without electricity was “not great” and “very difficult”.
When night came, he relied on a flashlight for lighting, adding that he went to bed early.
Mr Jones said he had not been visited by any authorities since he lost power.
Gareth Lloyd, MP for Llandysilio and Llangrannog in Ceredigion, said some areas had been told power would be restored at 22:00 on Tuesday, but had later postponed it to Wednesday or Thursday.
he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast The council has opened centers where people can get food, drink and warmth.
The power company will release a list of those on the vulnerable list that they have not yet contacted.
Lloyd added: “We will notify local councilors so we can contact them to make sure they are OK.”
He noted that many businesses were also affected.
“It can go from being a nuisance to affecting your livelihood and your health,” he said.
National Grid’s Roisin Quinn said its engineers and support teams had been “working around the clock to maintain power across the network”.
She thanked customers for their patience, adding that teams were “making every effort to restore power to the entire region as quickly as possible.”
EDF UK Renewables said its Portthwen solar farm in Anglesey was also damaged in the storm, with repair work and replacement of damaged panels expected to last until early next year.
“We are currently assessing the extent of the damage and conducting a controlled clean-up,” the statement said.
“Once initial restoration work is complete and the damage has been fully assessed, we will conduct a full investigation and restore power generation when it is safe to do so.”
