Storm Darragh - no power for some after six days

Engineers have worked round the clock to try to restore electricity supplies

Four days after the peak of the storm, work was starting at Rose Ash to get the power back on - photo by Jenny Howells, Ash Moor Nursery

Winds up to 89mph blasted North Devon and Exmoor as Storm Darragh swept in from the Atlantic overnight on December 7th - a report and photos will be in our January 2025 issue.

Fallen trees brought down power cables and phone lines, leaving many without electricity and communications in towns and villages across the area. The felled trees also made it hard for engineers to reach some locations. Some people had to wait between 4 and 6 days for their electricity to be reconnected, including parts of North Molton and Landkey, Meshaw, Rose Ash, Oakford, and isolated farms and rural properties around Swimbridge.

With so many homes and businesses left without power, light and heat over several days, residents helped each other and praised those offering shelter - including South Molton Library, The Portsmouth Arms, Umberleigh and Skate Molton.

The storm called into question emergency planning, with people asking why local councils hadn’t responded by opening centres to assist those in need. Others said electricity supplies should be more robust.

Molton Monthly Magazine asked North Devon Council if more could have been done to help those in need and received this reply, which was too long to include in the magazine in full:

“On Friday NDC attended a multi-agency pre event meeting with other Local Resilience Forum Partners to discuss potential risks associated with the storm following the Met Office issuing a wind warning for Saturday 7th December. The Local Resilience Forum is a partnership designed to enhance collaboration and coordination between responding emergency services and other agencies, including local authorities. North Devon Council (NDC) attended this meeting and tasked the communication team to share key messages from the Met Office which centred around the risk of travelling during the storm.

“A further multi agency meeting was held on Sunday 8th December following a significant number of power outages to gain an understanding of resupply times and vulnerable people at risk. As a result of this meeting National Grid and DCC social care worked together to identify vulnerable people in affected postcodes. National Grid were tasked with issuing messaging around risks associated with power outages which other agencies supported through promotion on social media.

“When we became aware at that meeting, and afterwards, that the power cuts were continuing beyond Sunday we, as well as sharing information from National Grid on social media, contacted all parishes to ensure they were aware the continuing power outage may be affecting their area and to advise vulnerable parishioners to contact National Grid who would be able to provide advice. A complication was that, unfortunately, NDC weren’t advised which specific areas were affected. We also contacted community groups such as One Northern Devon whose community developers have in the past helped to co-ordinate response on the ground.

“With regard to warm spaces, NDC don’t have buildings that we can open in close enough proximity to have been useful to the rural areas and so in these situations, it is essential that there is resilience and plans in the local community.  Our social media was monitored over the whole period to ensure we were in a position to respond to any specific requests for support.  Moving forward we will continue to work with parishes to ensure they have resilience plans in place.

“For those areas still affected at the start of the week, we are aware there were plans in place by Landkey Primary School to provide facilitates on Tues (fortunately power was reinstated back on Monday) and also in Ilfracombe by One Ilfracombe/Ilfracombe Town Council.

“For those pockets of rural areas still without power we understand that there are strong community groups or individuals in place providing holistic support.

“We would encourage community groups to contact us to ensure we are aware of the support they can offer and the area they cover.” communityengagement@northdevon.gov.uk