Council and charity rally as 5,000 homes lose power

The problem was further exacerbated because some village residents do not have gas, so rely on electricity for everything.
As soon as the Council heard of the power cuts, care workers put their emergency plan into place.
This involved identifying possible vulnerable people of all ages in the area who might have gone through the night without heating or anything to eat or drink. Nearly 300 people were identified as possibly being at risk.
Home carers ensured they visited everyone they could and agency staff who deal with residents directly were asked to ensure they phoned or visited their clients to make sure they were alright.
Council staff also phoned as many vulnerable residents as they could to check up on them. If they were unable to contact them by phone or through carers, Red Cross volunteers were asked to drive their Fire and Emergency Support vehicles to the addresses in order to check whether they had electricity, and if not, provide hot food and drinks.
In fact, no one required the refreshment service, but they were able to establish that some 60 people who had not been contacted were alright. The Red Cross were out until about 8.30pm doing this.
Chief Executive Chris Williams said: "I am very proud that our staff, working with partner agencies, moved so swiftly and effectively to ensure our vulnerable residents were not at risk. I would also like to commend and thank the Red Cross volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure they got round to everyone."