Preparations underway for Storms Dudley & Eunice

Durham County Council has issued a press release in advance of storms expected to hit the region from today:

Work is underway to prepare for further storms which are expected to hit the region this week.

Durham County Council, emergency services and other key organisations are working together to plan for the impact of storms Dudley and Eunice, with both expected to bring a period of very strong winds from today, Wednesday 16 February.

Storm Dudley will hit the region first, with an amber warning in place on Wednesday afternoon and evening. This is followed by a yellow warning for wind until 9pm on Friday evening with Storm Eunice expected to bring further disruption.

Teams from across the council are on standby to respond to any incidents caused by the storms and to provide additional support to residents and vulnerable households.

The council is working as part of a multiagency response to Storm Dudley and Storm Eunice, which will be led by County Durham and Darlington’s Local Resilience Forum (LRF).

It comes just weeks after Storm Malik brought down trees and power lines across the county, leaving a number of properties without power, and a major incident being declared by the LRF.

Alan Patrickson, Durham County Council’s corporate director for neighbourhoods and climate change, said: “We would like to reassure residents across County Durham that we are already working hard to prepare for any issues caused by this week’s storms and to ensure that support is available to anyone who needs it.

“We will continue to monitor the storm in order to ensure people and their property remain safe and that vital transport links remain open. We are also preparing for possible power outages across the county and we would urge residents to be aware of this possibility. We would also advise people to take extra care if they need to travel and also to consider securing outdoor items to reduce the risk of damage to property.”

Anyone who is aware of an older or vulnerable person who needs help can contact the council’s customer services team on 03000 260000. This number is available 24 hours, with out of hours emergency support available through our Care Connect team. This number can also be used to report fallen trees on footpaths and highways and any damage to buildings. 

The council can also be contacted directly by email at: help@durham.gov.uk and Believe Housing can be contacted on: 0300 131 1999 or by email at: hello@believehousing.co.uk

Should any residents lose power during the storms, this can be reported at www.northernpowergrid.com – a map showing updated information on current power cuts is available at https://www.northernpowergrid.com/power-cuts.

If someone is without power and is vulnerable, call 105. Additional contact numbers are available for residents with a hearing or speech impairment. Full details are available at https://www.northernpowergrid.com/contact.

For information on any service disruption and road closures, please visit www.durham.gov.uk

Northern Powergrid has also issued the following advice and guidance to follow in the event of storm disruption:

Northern Powergrid is reassuring customers that teams are ready to respond should Storms Dudley and Eunice have an impact on the network. The Met Office forecasts severe gale force winds across the company’s operating area with Storm Dudley on Wednesday and Thursday and Storm Eunice on Friday. Winds speeds are forecast to be 60 to 70mph widely with 80mph in places and the potential for gusts of up to 90mph in exposed areas. We are closely tracking the weather and ensuring resources are in place to respond if the forecasted back-to-back storms were to impact network. Anyone who spots any damaged overhead power lines or other equipment must not approach the area and should report it immediately by calling 105. As we did in Storm Malik, we will be implementing the lessons learnt from Storm Arwen. We are reassuring our customers that we are ready to respond should Storms Dudley and Eunice have an impact on the region's power network and customers’ power supplies. The Met Office forecasts severe gale force winds across the company’s operating area with Storm Dudley on Wednesday and Thursday and Storm Eunice on Friday. Winds speeds are forecast to be 60 to 70mph widely with potential for gusts of up to 80mph in places, even 90mph in exposed areas. Those wind speeds do have the potential to cause some damage, so there is a relatively high likelihood that there will be some disruption to power supplies.  Paul Glendinning, Director of Policy and Markets, said:  "We are closely tracking the weather and have ensured that our resources are in place to respond if the forecasted back-to-back storms impact our network." "Our network control engineers have capability to restore power supplies remotely, switching electricity through alternative routes on our network wherever possible to get customers back on supply. In parallel our frontline workforce will be deployed to carry out local switching and repairs to restore power as safely and quickly as the conditions allow.”

Supporting our customers To report a power cut and find the latest information relating to a power cut please visit our website northernpowergrid.com/power-cuts or take a look at our 24/7 social media feeds on Facebook and Twitter (@NorthPowergrid) which will provide updates for customers. We are also reminding anyone who spots any damaged overhead power lines or other equipment that they must not approach the area and should report it immediately by calling 105. Our 24/7contact centre will be available with advisors ready to provide information, advice and support to customers who call 105, the free, three-digit power cut number. Customers with a disability, medical condition or very young families, who may need greater assistance during a power cut and have signed up to our Priority Services Membership, will be kept updated as a priority. For any customers on our priority service register who require further support, you can contact our dedicated priority service line 0800 169 2996. Our customer support vehicles are also prepped and ready to go out into local communities, where possible, to offer help on the ground to those who need it most. We expect that the storm will create levels of disruption that are over and above typical levels. If it does, we will be applying the lessons learnt from Storm Arwen in relation to keeping customers updated on our progress. In the early stages, we will give longer estimates of likely restoration times that reflect the fact that we won’t know the extent of the damage to the network. During that time, we will expect to get a lot of supplies restored by reconfiguring the network, but we will not yet know which customers are affected by damage that needs physical repair to restore supplies. In those early stages, we will be working hard to assess the damage so that we can provide more precise updates as the situation unfolds. Power cut tips and advice include: bookmarking our online power cut map and reporting service on your mobile devices – northernpowergrid.com/power-cuts having a charged mobile phone with important numbers, including 105, easily accessible turning off electrical appliances at the socket (this is particularly important for heating or cooking appliances as your power could be restored at any time and potentially cause a safety hazard) keeping one light switched on so you know when power is restored keeping a battery or wind-up torch handy – as they're much safer than candles checking on your elderly or sick neighbours and relatives and consider joining Northern Powergrid's free Priority Services Membership if you might be more vulnerable in a power cut – northernpowergrid.com/care ensuring you have warm clothing and blankets handy and some food and drink in your home that does not require electricity to heat or prepare it, and only call 999 in an emergency.