Power firm did what it could after but had got it wrong before
Farmer Peter Jaffrey, 56, endured six days without power to his home and farm at Drumoak near Banchory. His wife Rona, 59, and their daughter Tegan, 17, lasted four days in freezing conditions before decamping to a hotel. Peter remained at home with their dog, an Irish Wheaten Terrier, Dexter, nine, to tend his livestock.
Rona said: “I kept thinking the power would be back but it didn’t happen, the power cut just went on and on. Tegan was so cold. I was cold, even the dog was cold. After four days we booked into a hotel.”
Peter said: “It was less hassle for me to stay on the farm so I could keep an eye on the animals than go to the hotel. I cooked my food on an Aga, had candlelight, and took a hot water bottle to bed. Dexter and me struggled through it and got on OK. It brought back memories of my youth when there were power cuts. In the last 10 to 15 years there has not really been anything like this, and we have all become used to our central heating and being warm.”
Peter believes the power providers have done what they could in the aftermath of the storm, but questions their management in the lead up to it. He said: “The network have been cutting down small trees underneath power lines along tracks and roads, but the big trees next to lines that could cause damage have been left.
“You can easily see that if there was wind they could come over and cause problems. The network decimated the small trees that are good habitats and good for the environment. We have known that this was kind of weather was coming. They could have been more proactive to lessen the damage caused.”