STORM AMY: ‘Comprehensive welfare operation’ under way as 62,000 households remain without power, SSEN confirm
62,000 households are still without power across Scotland as efforts to deploy hot food to affected households are now under way, an update from Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has confirmed.
In a statement shared this morning, the electricity network operator said that it had been able to restore power to 16,500 customers after damage caused by Storm Amy had left many Highland homes in darkness overnight.
A spokesperson for SSEN said: “Storm Amy's causing considerable disruption on the electricity distribution network in the north of Scotland.
“Wind gusts of over 100 mph have affected power supplies. As of 7:30am this morning, power's been restored to 16,500 customers; work to reconnect a further 62,000 households goes on, with remote switching being done where possible, in addition to fault repairs on the network.
“However, a Met Office Amber warning for wind remains in place for much of the north of Scotland 'til 9pm tonight.
“The impact of these ongoing, forecast storm-force winds is two-fold; they'll cause further disruption to the network today, and they could make it too dangerous to safely work at height to repair some faults caused by last night's winds.”
SSEN say the repair of damage to affected power supplies “will take time” and that hot food vans are now being sent to areas who are likely to be affected, as part of a “comprehensive welfare operation”.
“We'll make these repairs as soon as we can, and extra teams are in place across the network to do this.
“But this will be a big operation, and it will take time.
“Meanwhile, a comprehensive welfare operation is getting underway, with a dozen hot food vans heading to affected communities.
“Once these begin serving meals, information on opening times and locations will be put on our social media channels and sent to our local resilience partners.
“The Priority Services team will also keep in contact with the most-vulnerable customers to check in on their wellbeing.
“We'd like to thank customers for their understanding and patience while we respond to this extremely severe autumn storm.
“If you come across any damaged network equipment, please stay back and call us immediately on 105, and we'll investigate.”