URGENT action is needed to address the resilience of the region’s power grid after tens of thousands of homes were left without electricity for the second time in two months.

Gale force winds of up to 80mph battered the region on Saturday as Storm Malik tore across the UK causing trees and power lines to fall.

Fences were blown down, walls and buildings collapsed and lorries on the A1(M) and A19 overturned.

The Northern Echo:

The overturned lorry on the A1(M)

Emergency services were inundated with calls for help and Durham County Council declared a ‘major incident’.

Read more: Compensation for people affected by County Durham power cuts

Last night around 5,000 homes in County Durham, and an estimated 11,000 homes Northumberland, still had no power with engineers struggling to complete all the repairs needed.

Their efforts were expected to be hampered further by the arrival of Storm Corrie in the region on Sunday evening.

In November, Storm Arwen, with windspeeds of up to 100 mph, caused power cuts in 240,000 properties leaving some without energy for up to 13 days.

North Durham MP Kevan Jones said: “These latest power blackouts again demonstrate the lack of investment in the county's electricity grid with a system reliance on overhead cables which are vulnerable to high winds.

“Northern Powergrid appears to have learned nothing from Storm Arwen in terms of its communications with people again having difficulty get information, and when they do, optimistic time scales for restoration of the power are being given, which are not met.

“I am pleased that the county council has again quickly stood up the resilience forum to respond, but a wide inquiry and action plan is needed to address the resilience of the power grid in the county.''

Northern Powergrid said around 80,000 customers were affected by the arrival of Storm Malik, and that lessons had been learned from Storm Arwen.

The Northern Echo:

The areas in County Durham and Northumberland affected can be seen on a map on the interactive Northern Powergrid map 

In a statement issued on Sunday the company said: “Two of the key lessons we learned from Storm Arwen were the need to make our website more resilient to keep the power cut logger up during periods of high demand and to do a better job in relation to how we provided estimated times of restoration when we still didn’t know the extent of the damage to our network.

“Accordingly, we implemented two changes that we have been able to use to provide a better service in this event.

“Firstly, we switched on the website queuing system before the storm hit.

“As a result, our website remained stable right through the peak of the event and our customers were able to log power cuts at all times.

“Secondly, we disabled the automatic text message updates early in the storm to avoid sending the automatically generated estimates that serve us well in business as usual but not during storms.

“We understand everybody wants to know when they are going to be reconnected, but the reality is there is a lot to do and the work involved is often not fully known until our teams get on site.

“So, we regret that in some cases we cannot yet give precise estimates of when power will be restored because the work involved in one job has a knock-on effect on the timing of others.”

Anyone who was not reconnected on Sunday morning can claim £15 per person per meal and anyone not reconnected by 2pm on Sunday can claim back ‘reasonable costs’ for alternative accommodation.

Across the county the clean-up operation will be continuing over the next few days.

Saturday’s ferocious winds caused chaos with the widespread destruction of property, fallen trees and damaged fencing.

The Northern Echo:

Overhill Terrace in Bensham. Picture: NORTH NEWS 

The entire roof was ripped off a house on Overhill Terrace in the Bensham area of Gateshead and a car was destroyed in South Shields when the gusts caused a partial building collapse.

The £25,000 Range Rover, which belonged to Russell Choudary, was left covered in bricks, which fell from the gable end of a row of terraced housing.

In Newcastle, Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie had a lucky escape and a tree fell on his house, destroying two cars on the driveway.

It was also dangerous for motorists with several lorries tipping over A1(M) in County Durham and emergency services called in extra staff to cope with the sheer volume of calls they were receiving.

The Northern Echo:

Emergency services on the scene after high winds caused the vehicle to topple 

A spokesperson for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service said: “Our control room operators and crews have been extremely busy following severe weather, caused by Storm Malik.

“The control room took over 130 calls in just a few hours and firefighters responded to incidents across County Durham and Darlington including multiple road traffic collisions, fallen trees, unstable buildings, powerline disruptions and high sided vehicles being blown off course.”

The Emergency Planning Strategic Co-ordination Group (SCG) for County Durham and Darlington was convened on Saturday and declared it was a ‘major incident’.

The Local Resilience Forum (LRF) escalated the issue so it could provide additional support.

Chief Superintendent Richie Allen, of Durham Constabulary, who is chairman of the SCG, said: “It’s just two months since many communities were left without power as a result of Storm Arwen, so we understand that residents will be anxious to ensure their supplies are quickly restored.

“Residents can be assured that support is available to anyone who needs it so, if you need help, please get in touch.

“I would also ask that people please continue to look out for friends, family members are neighbours where possible, particularly if they know of anyone who is vulnerable.”

The Northern Echo:

Durham County Council staff clearing a tree after Stom Malik hit the region 

Council staff, neighbourhood wardens and fire and rescue teams have been visiting communities known to have been affected by the power cuts to check on residents, and food trucks have been arranged for areas most affected by the storm.

Additional staff have also been out across the county to help with clearance work, assessing dangerous structures and removing fallen and dangerous trees. More council staff have also been put on standby in preparation for Storm Corrie.

Durham County Councillor Paul Sexton said: “Our recovery teams have been working tirelessly over the weekend to ensure roads and footpaths are cleared and safe to reopen as quickly as possible.

“Council staff and neighbourhood wardens have also been out in communities around the clock, checking on residents and ensuring any issues have either been raised or resolved.

“While work is ongoing to restore power to homes and clear any damage caused by the storm, we are continuing coordinate our efforts a multi-agency capacity to ensure the county can recover as quickly as possible.

“We know there has also been a large community effort, and we would like to thank everyone for their continued help and support.”

Anyone who is aware of an older or vulnerable person who needs help can contact the council’s customer services team on 03000 260 000.

This number is available 24 hours, with out of hours emergency support available through the Care Connect team.

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