Farmer’s wife says more needs done for the vulnerable

A farmer’s wife has described the desperate efforts they are making to keep their livestock healthy after being without power for nearly a week.

Carolyn and George Maniukiewicz farm near Fyvie and like many of their neighbours have been without electricity or heat since Storm Arwen battered the area last Friday.

Some locals, including the Maniukiewicz family, also do not have any water as they are not connected

to the mains. Instead, the water comes from a well which is operated by an electric pump.

This means that Mr Maniukiewicz has been lifting water from the well with a bucket to ensure his cattle are watered.

His wife said it is a constant race against the clock to get the extra jobs done before darkness falls at 3.30pm.

The family has already lost one calf after it was born in the first night of black-outs, leaving Mr Maniukiewicz unable to see if it needed help.

Mrs Maniukiewicz said: “Nobody has had a proper wash, you can’t peel potatoes, you can’t do anything because you’ve got nothing to cook on anyway, you can’t flush the toilets. It’s like the Dark Ages.”

Their house has no heating and they gave their spare gas heaters to her 96-year-old mother-in-law, who lives on her own.

Her daughter lives close by and they have been going to her house which also has no power or water, but has a wood-burning stove.

However, Mrs Maniukiewicz said not all of her neighbours are so fortunate to have family close by.

She said: “If it wasn’t for the community and people trying to pull together and everybody trying to help, there has been no public sector support whatsoever.

“Had we lived in the central belt this would have been fixed ages ago.”

She claimed her 94-yearold neighbour has been in bed since Friday to stay warm.

Winds of up to 100mph hit Fyvie on Friday.

The family’s double-sized garage shed was “smashed to smithereens” and everything inside it was destroyed, and, after being told to stock up for Christmas, the food in the freezer is now spoiled.

Mrs Maniukiewicz, who owns her own business, Ideas in Partnership, has also been unable to work since losing power.

She said: “We’ve just got back into thinking about doing things after Covid and it’s three steps backwards, one step forward. I’ve got no internet, no means of phoning other than my mobile and the only way I can get my mobile charged is by sitting in the car.”

Luckily, the community has rallied and those with a mains water supply have been providing their neighbours with water.

However, the businesswoman claimed people are beginning to get “very angry” at the lack of communication.

She believes the authorities should have been out knocking on doors to check on the vulnerable, or providing food and water, but praised the engineers working to get the power back on.

Homes have been without power for a week.