Elderly residents of a care home in Angus went without mains electricity for more than 40 hours in the aftermath of Storm Arwen.
Abbey House Residential Care home, on the outskirts of Kirriemuir, lost all power at around 6.30pm on Friday night.
Management at the care home were told by SSE on Saturday afternoon that it could be Sunday before power is restored.
To add to the care home’s woes, the telephone lines were also down.
Eventually, power was fully restored around 11.30am on Sunday morning, a member of staff told The Courier and Evening Telegraph.
However, people in some areas have been warned it could be “days” until all repairs to the electricity network are completed, a spokesman for SSEN said today.
Local appeal
Following a social media appeal by Abbey House, local residents supplied generators and heaters late on Saturday afternoon.
The care home said: “Abbey House Residential care home has suffered some damage to the roof and is currently still within the area without any electricity.
“The back-up generator has been damaged…and power may not be back on until tomorrow (Sunday) morning.
“We are looking for any portable gas heating etc to help in the interim.”
Within only a few hours the home provided an update, saying: “We now have a petrol generator working and there is light.
“And heat, more importantly. Thank you all for your help and hopefully the power companies have it all back up and running sooner than later.”
Concern for residents
One Kirriemuir local told The Courier and Evening Telegraph there had been widespread concern for the elderly residents.
They said: “There was a lot of concern locally about the elderly at Abbey House.
“But it was great that after an appeal by the home, locals were able to help out.
“Everyone at the home and in the town did everything they could to try to keep the old folk as warm and comfortable as possible.
“For the power companies, elderly, vulnerable people should be a priority in conditions like this.”
Elsewhere, a pair of OAPs in Dundee face another sleepless night after a 50ft tree brought down by Storm Arwen slumped against their home.
