- Engineers have restored power to 20,000 customers since the severe floods hit yesterday
- Engineers are still working tirelessly to restore the remaining 5,937 customers
- Some properties may be without power until tomorrow (Monday) due to severity of flooding
- Customers in Rochdale are being asked to reduce power use to prevent further loss of power
- Radcliffe: 500 properties restored, 1,000 now without power
- Rochdale: Power restored to 16,300 properties, 4,000 remain without power
- Bury: Power restored to 1,859 customers, 439 remain without power after second substation flooded yesterday afternoon
- Padiham: 1,490 now restored, 10 remain without power
- Croston: 89 now restored, 488 remain without power
Engineers from Electricity North West are continuing to work around the clock to repair damage to flooded substations and restore power and they will work through the evening and night to get the power back on for the remaining 5,937 customers. More than 40 generators are being deployed across Lancashire and Greater Manchester to restore power and Electricity North West is still asking customers in Rochdale (OL11 and OL12 postcodes) to conserve energy where possible to reduce the risk of further outages.
Mark Williamson, operations director for Electricity North West, said: “We understand how difficult it is to be without power but I want to reassure our customers that we are doing everything we possibly can to repair the damage and restore power to the remaining customers.
“We are still asking our customers in Rochdale to reduce their energy use to prevent further power outages while our engineers repair the damage. Simple things like turning off your Christmas lights or not using your washing machine or dishwasher for a while would make a huge difference. I’d like to thank customers for their understanding and their goodwill to our teams during what continues to be an enormously challenging time for everyone involved. We are immensely proud of the area and the people we serve in the way they have dealt with this incident.”
Flood defences at Rochdale substation were upgraded in 2010 as part of a £468k scheme to protect power supplies against a '1-in-200-year' flood. Once water has receded engineers, including inspectors and meter operators from electricity suppliers, will have to carry out door-to-door safety checks on equipment to safely restore power to properties.
Electricity North West has sent food vans to a number of locations throughout the day to provide hot food to customers without power. Vans are in Radcliffe, Rochdale and Bury and locations can be found @ElectricityNW.
More information will be posted at www.electricitynorthwest.co.uk and on Twitter @ElectricityNW.
Vulnerable customers, including some older or disabled people, or those with a medical dependency on electricity, can also sign up to the Priority Services Register by visiting www.enwl.co.uk/priority or contacting Electricity North West on 0800 195 4141.
For advice on how to stay safe in a flooding event, please visit www.enwl.co.uk/power-cuts/flooding-advice.
To report a power cut please call 0800 195 4141, follow @ElectricityNW on Twitter or visit www.electricitynorthwest.co.uk.
