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'Survival mode': Storm Éowyn left us without power for six days

Nichola Rutherford
BBC Scotland News
BBC Kenneth and Carol are sitting on a sofa, draped with blankets. Kenneth is wearing a red sweater and smiling at the camera. Carol has shoulder-length blonde hair and a blue and white floral top. BBC
Kenneth and Carol Morris were without power for five and a half days

A couple left without power for almost six days after Storm Éowyn have described going into "survival mode" to cope with plunging temperatures.

Carol and Kenneth Morris were among tens of thousands of households across Scotland who lost electricity during winds of up to 100mph last Friday.

The retired couple who live near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway were only reconnected to the grid on Wednesday afternoon.

And they claim that, despite their vulnerabilities, they struggled to get reliable information or support from SP Energy Networks (SPEN).

The network operator said its 700 engineers finally completed their work reconnecting 206,000 customers in central and southern Scotland early on Thursday morning.

SP Energy Networks Rear view of two SPEN engineers in hi-vis jackets and hard hats walking through a wooded area. There are tall fir trees on either side of them, as well as several fallen branches and logs. SP Energy Networks
SPEN said the damage caused by Storm Éowyn was the worst the network had ever seen

Carol, 66, told BBC Scotland News that they were also left without a reliable phone signal or access to their private water supply.

They relied on their log burner to keep warm, used a camping stove to heat tins of soup, and read books by torch light.

"You feel yourself almost shutting down because you're so cold," she said. "You've got no stimulation, you've no contact with anybody. It sounds dramatic but you're just going into survival mode."

Due to the effect the power cut had on accessing their water supply, they boiled bottled water on their camping stove to wash themselves.

Carol said she was "quite frightened" to use the stove to heat food or water after dark. Without a reliable phone line, they had no way of alerting the emergency services if an accident happened.

"And then there was the worry that log supplies were running out because everyone was in the same situation so I had to drive around [local towns] on Monday trying to get logs," she said. "If we had been without a log burner, we would have been freezing."

The couple said their contact with SPEN during the power cut was limited. The text messages they received advising when their power would be restored were inaccurate and in one instance wrongly informed them that they had been reconnected.

When Carol got through to an operator to ask about access to hot food, she was offered Just Eat or Deliveroo vouchers - but the food delivery services do not operate in rural Dumfries and Galloway.

She said they were not offered hotel accommodation and did not have access to the internet to get information about nearby warm hubs, food vans or being reimbursed for additional costs.

And even though the couple are on SPEN's priority services register, due to their age and Carol's MS diagnosis, they had no one knocking on their door to check on them.

Kenneth, 73, said: "We're not bad, we're fairly fit, but I'm sure there are lots of people less fit than us and older than us who really felt trapped in their homes.

"[They're should have been] someone coming to say are you all right? Not phoning them - there's no point phoning them if you've not got a [working] telephone line - knocking on the door and saying are you all right? Can we bring you some food, can we bring you some water? Can I bring you some hot drinks?

"Things like that would make a huge difference. Now I'm not saying take people off the repairs for that, I'm sure the repair teams are working extremely hard and do a really good job.

"But cut out all the PR nonsense ... and use those people to do something useful, never mind saying how hard everyone's working and how wonderful SPEN is ... just get out and do something useful."

Watch: Storm Éowyn crashes into Scotland... in 60 seconds

SPEN said the electricity network in central and southern Scotland sustained more than 100 days' worth of faults in under three days.

They added that call centre staff handled more than 94,000 calls - three months' worth in four days.

The firm said they sent more than 270,000 text messages to customers on the priority services register and face-to-face visits were made to more than 1,400 of their most vulnerable customers.

Customers without power for more than 48 hours are entitled to automatic compensation, they added, and those who paid for their own alternative accommodation and food while they had no power can submit a claim for reimbursement.

Nicola Connelly, SPEN CEO, said: "This has been a truly colossal task with our teams pulling out all the stops – and making use of every possible resource at our disposal as well as drafting in people and resources from across the country – with that singular aim of getting all our customers affected by the storm back on supply as quickly and safely as possible.

"It's been complex and challenging, but our teams stayed focused and persevered until we achieved just that – helped massively by the patience, resilience and understanding of our customers.

"We know it's been difficult and you were always at the heart of the tremendous team effort made right across our business, so thank you for your support."