Cornwall homes still without power and water after Storm Goretti

Properties across Cornwall are still without power and water three days on from Storm Goretti.

The National Grid said, as of 13:30 GMT, 15,667 properties were without electricity, mostly in the Helston area.

Sam Bottomley, from South West Water (SWW), said about 60% of the water network had been refilled but it was “impossible” to give an accurate figure of customers without water.

He said teams were repairing six major mains in Helston that were damaged by storm and affecting water supplies.

A water main that takes treated drinking water to customers, near its Wendron Water Treatment Works site, had been ripped out by a tree during the storm.

A spokesperson said: “This shows the challenges we are facing getting water to customers and we are doing everything we can to repair them.

“Our teams are working as quickly as possible to restore supplies but we are still affected by intermittent power outages.”

More than 60,000 bottled water has been handed out to customers via its water stations at the old Flambards car park in Helston, the Folly Field car park in Marazion and at Mullion School, as well as deliveries to people on its priority register.

However, a spokesperson for the water company said at 08:45 the Folly Fields bottled water station may have to close for safety reasons as there were winds up to 50mph (80km/h).

They added: “We will reopen it as soon as possible.”

Operations director for National Grid Stephen Joseph said teams were making “significant progress” in restoring power supplies despite the challenges.

Engineers from as far as Lincolnshire have been sent to the county to assist, the BBC understands.

Joseph said: “Since the height of the storm, we’ve restored power to over 53,000 customers across Cornwall, which is a massive effort from the hundreds of engineers, not just from the Cornwall area but from across the midlands, Wales and the wider South West.

“We are still seeing the challenges from the incredibly high number of trees fallen down across our network.

“We did a significant amount of tree cutting yesterday and throughout the night to ensure the safety of our people [which] remains a priority to us.

“As those trees are being removed, we are getting our customers restored as quickly as possible.”

He said teams were still finding issues across the network, including fallen trees and broken cables.

National Grid director of customer excellence Emma Pamplin said there were welfare provisions in place for customers experiencing longer power cuts.

She said a welfare van on Commercial Road in Penryn had been providing people with hot food and drinks since Saturday and opened on Sunday at 11:00.

There were also warm spaces customers could use which can be found on the National Grid website, she added.

Cornwall Council said it continued to respond to the ongoing impacts of the storm across the county.

The council said its highway teams continued to respond to respond to a “significant” number of incidents, particularly in west Cornwall.

“With further wet and windy weather forecast, some areas remain unsafe due to fallen trees and branches, and there is a continued risk of further disruption,” the council said.

“We would like to thank residents and communities for their patience, support and understanding. Please continue to give our teams the time and space they need to carry out this essential recovery work safely.”

The council said support was still available for vulnerable residents who remained without electricity and asked people to contact the authority if they were concerned.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) minister Mary Creagh said she remained “very concerned” people in several areas in the South West and South East who were experiencing water supply issues following both cold weather and the storm.

Creagh said: “I chaired a further meeting with the water companies, and local resilience forums to restore supplies as quickly as possible, prioritising vulnerable customers and essential public services.

“Action by this government means compensation rates have increased for customers and businesses affected by disruption.

“It underlines why this government is prioritising investment in infrastructure to improve the resilience of our water system.”

A spokesperson for SWW said that, while the storm was beyond anyone’s control, it would be crediting affected customers.

It said customers were entitled to £50 for the first 12 hours without water, then £50 for every additional 12-hour period.

It added that customers did not need to do anything as the credit would be applied automatically and be reflected on their next bill.