Storm Eunice: Power cuts continue across Chichester

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said last night (Saturday, February 20), “Our teams continue to respond to the extensive impact of Storm Eunice, which caused 1,000 points of damage on our overhead line network; over 100 times that of an average day.

“Working in extremely challenging conditions, with a yellow warning for wind in place, our engineers have been out since first light this morning (Sunday, February 20) to assess and complete overhead line repairs.”

According to live maps from SSEN, as of 11am today there are still power cuts around Chichester and Horsham.

SSEN confirmed that by 9pm last night 160,000 homes across its operating area had power restored, with 25,000 homes still without power.

A SSEN spokesperson said, “Our teams will continue late into this evening to restore power to customers as quickly and as safely as possible, prioritising those faults that will restore as many customers as possible

“Looking ahead, the weather outlook continues to be challenging with another Met Office yellow wind warning in place from tomorrow and again on Monday. This may slow repairs, but we would like to reassure customers that all our resources are focused on the restoration effort.”

Richard Gough, director of distribution system operations, said, “The hurricane-force winds of Storm Eunice have resulted in some of the most extreme and challenging conditions experienced in the south of England for decades with significant impact on our overhead line network.

“Our teams have worked extremely hard to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible to over 160,000 customers. We expect to make continued good progress tomorrow but with complex repairs and the risk of further weather impact, we expect the restoration of some localised faults to extend into early next week.

“We apologise to our customers for the continued disruption and reassure them that we are making every effort to restore their power, while giving them the best available information in order to make informed choices. We are also prioritising support for our most vulnerable customers, working closely with our local resilience partners.

“We continue to urge people not to approach any damage to our equipment and instead to report it by calling 105 or logging on our Power Track App and engineers will investigate as soon as possible.”

Live updates from SSEN