Hundreds still waiting for power
Outages remain after region battered by storm
Around 350 homes in the area surrounding Callander were still without power yesterday – four days after Storm Arwen plunged communities into the dark.
Villagers were left without electricity when strong winds brought down trees and powerlines, blocking a number of key routes.
Much of the area – including Killin, Callander, Doune, Deanston and Port of Menteith – saw supplies cut off for three days.
As the Observer went to print, outages were still in place in Blairhoyle, Ruskie, Port of Menteith and other smaller clusters of rural properties.
Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) was inundated with calls and was on red alert after fallen trees brought down much of their network.
Up until yesterday (Tuesday) SSEN was still working to reconnect communities.
Overnight, between Monday and Tuesday, those living in Deanston saw power restored.
Supply was also restored in Killin, Strathyre, Callander, Braeval and Lochearnhead.
The energy firm say that since lunchtime of Friday, power has been restored to 105,000 customers, with a further 15,000 across Scotland still without. It is estimated that 350 of them are in the Stirling area.
The remaining high voltage faults connecting larger population centres were still being worked on throughout the day yesterday.
However, for localised faults, restoration times were likely to extend beyond Tuesday and customers were encouraged to explore alternative arrangements, where necessary.
Rest centres have been established by SSEN at a number of rural community facilities including: Knockraich Farm, Fintry; Strathyre Primary School; Aberfoyle Primary School; and Doune Primary School.
Stirling Council set up rest centres for affected residents. Those were at Doune Primary, Aberfoyle Primary and Killin Nursery.
Those were then closed and replaced with a centre at McLaren Community Leisure Centre.
Schools, including Port of Menteith Primary and Deanston Primary remained closed to pupils yesterday due to the outage.
The primary schools in Killin and Kippen re-opened yesterday.
All schools were expected to re-open today.
Stirling Council leader, Councillor Scott Farmer thanked the local authority’s teams for their response to the crisis.
He said: “I’m in awe of the response of our staff yet again and I take my hat off to officers who were both on the ground and working behind the scenes in response to SSEN’s network failure.
“Many of our communities were left in the dark over the course of the weekend without heating or power, with some still without electricity as of Tuesday morning. Amidst this concerning and at times chaotic scenario, Stirling Council stepped into the breach.
“For more than 20 months our teams have been in emergency mode, responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, but they have gone above and beyond yet again to safeguard the welfare of our residents as part of a multi-agency response to significant disruption.
“I want to thank our workforce for their outstanding efforts to ensure the safety of our communities, and also thank the local communities themselves for their support and understanding over the last few days.”
In Killin, the outage saw the community band together. Community councillor Ron Allner said: “Yesterday showed what a fantastic village Killin is. Cut off with no power and freezing temperatures, volunteers travelled around to every elderly and vulnerable person’s house to check on their wellbeing.”
Villagers there borrowed stoves and gas for everyone without heating which were delivered to many houses. The Capercaillie restaurant opened to supply food and hot drinks to anyone from the village free of charge and people were ferried to and fro by volunteers.
Many people offered their homes to anyone in need.
There was further devastation at Stronachlachar, at Loch Katrine, after around 20 trees fell on Friday evening. The road through there was closed, the Pier Cafe was damaged and visitors living at the holiday accommodation there were trapped for a period, although nobody was injured.
It comes just two years after a devastating series of landslides hit the Loch
Katrine area.
In August 2019, mudslides saw 17 people have a miraculous escape along the north shoreline. Properties in Glengyle were cut off as tonnes of mud and debris swept down the hillside during a period of torrential rain. Phone lines and power to the properties were cut and sections of the road were blocked or damaged.
The Loch Katrine Facebook page this week said: “(It’s the) Latest in a series of blows for the Steamship Trust over past two years – 21 landslides on north shore, steamship condemned due to cracked boilers, impact of Covid-19 on trading and now this just as we were on the slow road to recovery with plans to start improvement works at Strony Pier car park on Monday. Best laid plans in tatters again but we will bounce back! Stay safe.”
Blair Drummond Safari Park was forced to close on Saturday as a number of trees fell there. No animals or staff were injured.
Deanston Distillery was also forced to close due to a power outage.
Mark Rough, director of customer operations at SSEN, said yesterday: “We would once again like to apologise to all customers affected by Storm Arwen and assure them all efforts are being made to accelerate restoration where possible.
“We are, however, still experiencing challenging conditions and multiple faults on individual circuits, with complex repairs underway that are taking longer than normal to rectify. The extent of the damage is also hampering the ability to re-route the network to restore supply and regrettably, restoration times for some customers will extend beyond today.
“In recognition of the significant impact on our customers, we have offered to reimburse all reasonable accommodation costs for any customer unable to make alternative arrangements. We would like to thank communities for their continued support and patience; local partners; and our teams of engineers, tree cutters and support staff who have been working in some of the most challenging conditions we have experienced in decades.”