Northumberland Improved Storm Response After Arwen Outages Revealed

Hey, remember that really bad storm, Arwen? It hit in November 2021. Lots of homes lost power, sometimes for two weeks. People didn’t think officials handled it well.

The council reviewed everything to prevent repeats. Northumberland had 14 named storms since Arwen. Gordon Stewart said more severe weather is coming. Storms affect way more areas now. They’ve improved since Arwen, but it’s not perfect.

Helen Hinds said they’ve made real progress. Their weather plan has been tested in other storms. Think Bert, Darragh, and Eowyn; it’s now officially approved.

They now have 92 assistance centers. They get power data faster, in a better format. This helps them respond quicker. They share data to check on the vulnerable.

Firefighters now visit those with contact gaps. One elderly woman fell after Arwen. She was stuck until fire crews rescued her. She had hypothermia, poor thing.

Nick Morphet said they’ve done a great job. He is impressed with the improvements since Arwen. He thinks it’s great they’re still learning.