Thousands of homes on Shetland are still without power – and have told it could be Friday before it is restored.
Heavy snow damaged the power lines early this week, causing cuts across much of the island – prompting the Scottish Government to declare a major incident on Tuesday night.
Extra engineers were ferried and flown over to Shetland to try and get the lines repaired.
But as of lunchtime today , 2,800 homes were still without power in areas including Voe, Whalsay, Brae, Yell and the West Mainland.
Shetland has no access to mainland gas supplies and so relies on electricity or expensive heating oil for warmth.
Overnight, ferries and helicopters made the journey to Shetland with 15 crews and more than 125 engineers arriving on Wednesday morning to assess the situation.
A convoy of SSEN vans and trucks could be seen disembarking from the Northlink ferry from Aberdeen.
While SSEN expects to make “good progress over the next 24 hours” it is likely areas of the west Mainland and Voe will remain without power until the end of the week.
Engineers are working in “challenging” conditions not only because of the snow and ice but the wind as well.
‘More must be done’
Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland, called on the Scottish Government to do more work to ensure power and communication is more resilient for future weather events.
She said during today’s First Minister’s Questions: “The north-east of Scotland faced similar communication issues after Storm Arwen where batteries had died days before the power was restored and community support could not be relayed to those with landlines reliant on broadband and power networks.
“The Scottish Government is not responsible for the weather. But with weather events likely to become more erratic due to climate change more must be done to ensure that our power and communication connections are resilient and able to inform and help residents.”
Scottish Government minister Keith Brown visited Shetland today to hear about the efforts being made to restore power.
‘Side roads are still unpassable’
Chief Inspector Stuart Clemenson praised local gritting teams as he announced the main roads are now safe to use while side roads are still unpassable.
He said: “Thanks to incredible efforts from Shetland Islands Council gritting teams, main roads are now passable however the vast majority of side roads are still unpassable and not safe to travel on.
“If you think that the routes surrounding your home will still be dangerous, then please stay at home and find ways to keep warm, linking in with friends, family or neighbours to check that everyone is ok.
“In saying this, many areas are much clearer than previous days and community hubs have been set up in various communities to offer warmth and food. If it is safe to do so, then please visit these locations.”
Warm spaces set up
A number of warm spaces have been set up across Shetland so residents have a place to go for heat and shelter, with many also providing a place to have a hot meal.
However, snow drifts have made driving conditions difficult.
Available locations include:
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- Walls Hall – open until dark for soup and hot water
- Skeld Hall – open for cooking and hot water
- Aith Hall – open for soup and hot water
- Bixter Hall – open for cooking and hot drinks
- Symbister Hall – open for soup, hot drinks and charging phones
- Isbister Hall – open for hot drinks, access to hot water and phone charging
- Voe Hall – open as a warm space
- Tingwall Public Hall – open via a phone call for access to the kitchen or warmth
- Sandness Hall – will open for cooking, heating water and charging phones
- Whiteness & Wesidale Hall – anyone needing the facilities is asked to get in touch
- RNLI Aith Lifeboat Station – open via a call to 01595 810847 for warmth, kitchen facilities and electricity
- St Magnus Bay Hotel – open as a warm space
Contact council for help
Gritting teams have been out clearing roads, while council and NHS staff have been checking in on vulnerable residents with health or care needs.
The emergency services have also stepped in to help with additional resources, including 4×4 vehicles.
Council leader Emma Macdonald said: “This is a tremendously difficult time for many people whose homes will be cold and food and other supplies may be running low.
“I’d urge anyone with urgent health or care needs to get in touch and our staff will respond to any request for help as best we can.
“Shetland is a resilient and caring community but this is an exceptional period of cold weather and circumstances.
“Our staff are working hard to care for people and to coordinate support to communities with essential supplies, such as food and generators, wherever they can be best used.
“Let’s all look out for each other – please check on friends, families and neighbours and if you need help or know someone who does, please contact us.”
Those who are in a life-threatening situation should call 999.
Shetland Islands Council can be contacted for support during office hours on 01595 744400 or out-of-hours number 01595 695611.
People urged to stay safe and keep warm
Shetland Council has announced schools and early learning centres will remain closed on Thursday due to the adverse weather and power supply issues.
In Gutcher, as many as 176 home landlines are still out.
Police have encouraged people in this position and in need of urgent help to use other ways of contacting officers.
This includes using ISDN lines, the contact form on Police Scotland’s website and a mobile phone.
Chief Inspector Stuart Clemenson urged those who can, to stay home and keep warm.
He said: “Local and national partners and members of the community are working round the clock to ensure vulnerable people have the support they need.
“Responders have been out on foot checking on sheltered accommodation residents and delivering medication, while there has been a phenomenal response from SSEN who have extra engineers coming over on flights and by ferry.
“While we wait for power to be restored to all homes, I continue to urge people to stay at home and find ways to stay warm.
“Link in with neighbours, friends and family to ensure they are safe and well and listen to the local radio or follow social media for updates.
“It’s really important that we all check in with vulnerable people when severe weather affects our communities, and that community spirit will be extremely important in Shetland at the moment.”
Compensation for those without power
Mark Macdonald, head of the region at SSEN Distribution, said: “We’ve had 15 power line crews arrive on the first ferry this morning, with another 15 crews leaving tonight and many more expected to arrive by plane and helicopter to support our local teams.
“Now that it’s safe to fly, we’re organising helicopter patrols to fly our overhead lines and assess the extent of the damage, which will help us better target our restoration strategy.”
Customers are entitled to claim up to £30 per person for every 24 hours they’re without power and are asked to keep copies of their receipts.
For customers on SSEN’s priority services register without power and who are unable to make alternative arrangements SSEN are offering to reimburse costs for alternative accommodation.
Anyone who needs support in arranging alternative accommodation should call the customer contact centre on 105.
To keep updated with power outages across the north and north-east click here.
