Storm Eunice: SSEN restore power to 55,000 people across the south coast

The news comes as communities across the South Coast continue to deal with the impacts of Storm Eunice which has, as forecast, brought 80mph gusts and stormy seas.

Those strong winds have caused considerable infrastructural damage, felling trees, obstructing roads and disturbing powerline.

Not only did this lead to power cuts in place like Midhurst and Petworth, where postcodes RH20 and GU28 reported outages, alongside homes in villages like Liphook and Rogate, reported power outages earlier today, it has also made it difficult for organisations like SSEN to send scouts and technicians.

Even so, as of 4pm today SSEN claims to have reconnected 55,000 customers, with 120,000 still out of supply.

"Our engineers continue to work on re-routing or ‘switching’ the network – restoring as many customers remotely as they can – with our operational teams ready to work on power lines when wind levels drop, and it is safe to do so," a SSEN spokesperson said.

"The extreme winds are due to reduce slightly following the expiration of the Met Office Red Warning but will remain at gale-force levels until 6pm at the earliest. A Met Office Amber warning remains in place until 9pm this evening."

"We continue to work closely with Local Resilience Forums and resilience partners to help coordinate the welfare response and provide support to customers and communities affected."

Richard Gough, Director of Distribution System Operations at SSEN, added:

"Storm Eunice looks like being the most significant storm to hit the south of England in decades. As the extreme winds continue to pass through our region, our teams are working carefully in these challenging conditions to assess network damage.

“I would like to thank customers for their patience and reassure them that, as the winds decrease, our teams will make every effort to repair our network and reconnect supplies as quickly and as safely as we can.

“Over 15,000 of our customers are currently logged on to SSEN’s Power Track app – the largest number ever recorded. We encourage customers to report any network damage via the app or by calling 105 and keep a safe distance of any damaged equipment.”

Customers have been urged to prepare for the possibility of a power outage by downloading ssen's power track app and checking social media for updates.

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'Storm Eunice cuts power in Midhurst and Petworth'