Storms Eunice and Franklin blamed for power cuts lasting several days in Sheffield neighbourhood

Sheffield residents and businesses have complained about a series of power cuts which lasted for days.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Numerous power outages hit Vere Road, Fielding Road, Penistone Road North, Parkside Road and Winster Road at Hillsborough.

Resident Michelle Wright said: “It started on the Friday with Storm Eunice, the power went off about 3pm and was off for about four hours. On the Sunday it started again then the power kept going off all week.

Read More
Storm Eunice Sheffield: Live updates as fierce winds bring down trees, close roa...
Eamonn Ward, of Hillsborough Green Party, says residents and businesses really struggled after a series of power cuts hits S6Eamonn Ward, of Hillsborough Green Party, says residents and businesses really struggled after a series of power cuts hits S6
Eamonn Ward, of Hillsborough Green Party, says residents and businesses really struggled after a series of power cuts hits S6
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Last Thursday was a really bad day, it was intermittent throughout the day and the evening. It didn’t come back on until 9.30pm, then was on and off all night. It went off again at 11pm until 6am the following morning.”

Businesses hit badly

Mo Shabir, who has run a newsagents on Vere Road for 34 years, said: “The takeaway over the road couldn’t cook and Emm’s barbers opened their doors to look after people who were struggling.

“My shop flooded in 2007 so I had pumps installed in the cellar. When the electricity went off, the pumps stopped working and with the heavy rain, the water got up to the second cellar step so I was really worried.”

Eamonn Ward, of Hillsborough Green Party, said Northern Powergrid should pay compensation.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“People were really struggling. Power cuts have a massive impact on people’s lives and businesses and the response that we saw from Northern Powergrid just didn’t reflect that.

“It took a massive clamour from people having to go through the complaint process to get them out here and get this sorted and that was about a week after this problem arose. Things needed to happen faster, it’s disappointing.”

Storms Eunice and Franklin blamed

Northern Powergrid said during Storm Eunice, power was interrupted after branches were blown onto overhead power lines and strong winds damaged parts of the overhead network.

A spokeswoman said: Our teams worked to remove the debris and repair the damage to safely restore supplies as soon as possible for customers and did so within industry guaranteed standard times.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Storm Franklin then brought severe downpours which caused a section of underground cable on our network in the S6 area to fault intermittently on three different days.

“Intermittent faults can happen if a cable becomes damaged and moisture gets inside. In this situation, to protect the wider network, the fuse in the local substation that powers that part of the network trips resulting in a power cut for local people.

“Our teams attended each time to carry out checks and replace the fuse at the local substation restoring customers’ supplies.

“We have also installed specialist equipment to help us identify the fault location if the power goes off again so we can carry out a permanent repair.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We understand it was frustrating for local residents and we thank them for their patience and understanding, especially during the storms when our teams and contact centre advisors were very busy trying to support customers whose supplies had been affected by the severe weather.”

Northern Powergrid said it can supply businesses with a letter which they can use to support insurance claims.