The interim report of County Durham's review of the response to Storm Arwen was published on 17 February 2022, concluding that damage came from flying debris, falling trees and winds snapping poles, and that customer contact systems were overwhelmed1. Storm Arwen hit the north of the United Kingdom on the afternoon of Friday 26 November 2021 and that night caused extensive damage across northern England1.
More than one million homes lost power as falling trees and poles brought down power lines, with over 100,000 homes experiencing several days without power1. In County Durham the electricity distribution network proved particularly susceptible to storm damage: over 14,890 utility customers were affected by a loss of power, outages affected all parts of the county, and many residents were without power for several days before power was restored to all properties on Thursday 9 December 20211. County Durham was one of four major incidents declared in response to the storm, alongside Cumbria on 26 November, North East Scotland on 29 November and Northumberland on 3 December1.
The review found that Northern Powergrid (NPg) declared an "internal major incident" on Friday 26 November, but that it was not until Tuesday 30 November that this information was shared with Local Resilience Forum partners1. The strategic and tactical coordination groups then spent 24 hours trying to develop an accurate picture of the scale and likely duration of the incident before declaring a major incident on Wednesday 1 December1. The council submitted a request for Military Assistance to Civil Authorities (MACA), approved by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on Thursday 2 December; from the morning of Friday 3 December, 100 plus troops from the Royal Lancers operated from two bases in the county to help with checks on isolated residents and vulnerable people and to distribute food and support packages1.
"The interim report of the review published on 17 February 2022 concluded that:"
The review recorded that over 5,000 visits were made to check on vulnerable residents, 330 emergency support packs containing heaters, stoves, torches, batteries and other emergency items were issued, the council commissioned 41 visits by mobile catering units to 11 localities between 1 and 8 December, and 14 households were helped into emergency alternative accommodation1. It noted that Ofgem's Quality of Service Guaranteed Standards allow network operators up to 48 hours to reconnect customers before customers are entitled to compensation for inconvenience and costs1.
Why it matters for households
The review describes what households in County Durham experienced: days without power in late November and early December 2021, with the cold weather that followed the storm bringing freezing temperatures and snow in the high Pennine areas1. It records that many members of the public who responded to the survey expressed dissatisfaction with the speed of response and communication, and that people tended to rely on help from friends, family, neighbours and local community support rather than responder agencies1. It also notes that some members of the community expect more immediate support and action in the event of power outages than the 48-hour standard tends to prompt1. Among its conclusions, the review identifies the need to continue to provide advice to households on how they can prepare for incidents such as power outages, and the need to support communities to develop their own local community resilience plans1. The storms and the electricity network guide sets out what happens during storm outages, and how to report a loss of electricity covers ringing 105.
What happens next
The review's improvement plan covers community resilience, emergency planning and training, response resources, communication and information sharing, use of council staff during incidents, and decision making and governance1. The final report was published on 9 June 2022 and included a range of actions to improve the resilience of electricity networks for future extreme weather events1. A special meeting of the Safer and Stronger Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee was held on 20 May 2022, at which members received a presentation on emergency planning arrangements, the de-brief and review and the draft improvement plan1. The report was to be shared with NPg and the LRF to inform their own reviews and multi-agency planning1.
Sources (1)
- democracy.durham.gov.uk, democracy.durham.gov.uk
Storms and the Electricity Grid
Why the Electricity Goes Off
How Long Until Power Returns
