Families in Cumbria endured a challenging few days without power following Storm Éowyn's impact. Many struggled with the lack of heating, internet, and basic amenities, highlighting the difficulties of living without essential services.
Families in Cumbria who were left without power for several days due to Storm Éowyn have described the experience as difficult. Shiona Bickley's home near Aspatria was disconnected from Friday until Monday evening, forcing her and her two children to spend the weekend by candlelight. 'Cooking by candlelight is not great fun - everybody thinks it's really romantic and after half an hour it's not,' she said.
Electricity North West (ENW) reported dealing with a large number of faults over the weekend, with fewer than 200 homes still without power in the county by Tuesday morning. Ms Bickley admitted that the lack of electricity had a significant impact on her family. 'The children were struggling emotionally with it, trying to play board games by candlelight is actually quite difficult, trying to read by candlelight is very difficult,' she explained. She sought refuge at her parents' house to use washing facilities, cook meals, and charge devices, but the absence of heating made their home unbearably cold. Without internet access, Ms Bickley remained unaware of welfare centers available to those affected by the power cuts until a friend sent a text message. She utilized the cafe at Watchtree Nature Reserve, near Great Orton, which was one of 14 centers established by ENW. Reserve manager Ryan Dobson shared that some staff members were also experiencing power outages and wanted to come to work to stay warm. 'My first question to them in the morning was: 'are you alright to do this?' and they told me it's warmer here than it is at home,' Mr. Dobson said. 'All credit to our staff and volunteers in what they've done to help other people out - it really speaks volumes.' Chris Cutts, from Bromfield, managed to access the internet thanks to the cafe staff. He described the situation as 'pretty horrific,' stating, 'The temperatures dropped, it was cold, I couldn't sleep at night.' The cafe staff, who were also grappling with the power cuts, went out of their way to assist those in need. Rachael Parr, director at ENW, acknowledged that the company maintained communication with its customers throughout the weekend. However, she strongly encouraged anyone who might be vulnerable to register for their extra support program to receive assistance during power outages. 'The challenge during this particular storm was that we had a high number of different faults, all with complex engineering requirements,' she explained. She added that while additional support was sourced from workers and contractors in other regions, a significant number of resources were diverted to Ireland, which suffered particularly severe damage from the storm
Storm Éowyn Cumbria Power Outage Families Challenges Welfare Centers
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