Electricity supplies restored overnight to 1,750 homes

Engineers from Electricity North West have made significant progress overnight and power supplies have now been restored to an additional 1,750 customers.

Teams from the company will continue to work through today to get power back for the remaining 1,250 customers.

To support those customers impacted by a loss of power supply Electricity North West has sent catering vans to ensure that they have access to a hot meal.

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As the flood water is receding, the company can ensure the safe restoration of power to properties impacted by the flooding. Once water levels drop engineers, including inspectors and meter operators from electricity suppliers, will have to carry out door-to-door safety checks on equipment to safely supply these properties. The work is being undertaken in partnership with energy supply companies.

Steve Cox, Incident Manager for Electricity North West, said: “We understand how difficult it is to be without power and are focus today is to ensure that power is restored for the remaining 1,250 customers.

“We are also working with electricity suppliers to inspect properties that have been impacted by flooding. Such inspections are essential to ensure that power is restored in these properties safely.

“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.