Storm Darragh damage

Downed by Darragh - storm leaves thousands without power for days

Winds up to 89mph blasted North Devon and Exmoor as Storm Darragh swept in from the Atlantic in December. The Met Office issued a rare Red Warning and tens of thousands of residents received ‘Emergency Alert’ texts to their mobile phones from the UK government for the first time, sent because of the potential for ‘danger to life’. Power cuts continued a week on.

Fallen trees brought down power cables and phone lines, leaving many without electricity and communications in towns and villages across the area. The felled trees also made it hard for engineers to reach remote locations.

Some had to wait between 4 and 6 days for their electricity to be reconnected, including parts of North Molton and Landkey, Meshaw, Rose Ash, Oakford and isolated farms and rural properties around Swimbridge. Among them a 92 year old woman living near Heasley Mill, her family said stoically that she was “managing OK”.

The A377 was blocked by fallen trees in several places including above at Eggesford Station - photo by Tarka Line Bistro

National Grid engineers (above) faced challenging conditions reconnecting power supplies in North Devon; and inset, helicopters were used to survey downed electricity lines - photo on Exmoor by Steve Creech

Engineering teams from National Grid battled treacherous conditions to try to get electricity supplies reconnected as quickly as possible. Spokesman Mark Lang said, “Storm Darragh is the biggest our region has faced in decades. Our team in North Devon worked around the clock to restore supplies to customers as quickly as possible.”

“Where customers had to wait to be reconnected, it was either too dangerous for our teams to carry out work, or there were other obstacles limiting our access to power lines. We had thousands of personnel deployed in the field across our network working on restoration,” he added.

Storm Darragh whipped up in intensity in the early hours of Saturday, December 7th and continued for most of the day. Damage to buildings was reported, although thankfully no injuries. Trains, buses and events were cancelled, and schools were closed including North Molton and Umberleigh.

Both the Taw and Torridge bridges were closed for 24 hours due to the high winds, and among the many roads affected the

With so many homes and businesses left without power, light and heat over several days, residents helped each other and praised those offering shelter - including South Molton Library, The Portsmouth Arms, Umberleigh and Skate Molton.

The storm called into question emergency planning, with people asking why local councils hadn’t responded by opening centres to assist those in need. Others said electricity supplies should be more robust.

North Devon Council told Molton Monthly Magazine that they worked closely with National Grid and social services to identify vulnerable people, “We don’t have buildings that we can open in close enough proximity to have been useful to the rural areas, so in these situations it is essential that there is resilience and plans in the local community.”

“We will continue to work with parishes to ensure they have plans in place.”