These companies are not really set up to respond to events like this though, are they? bills would be even higher than they are now if we had these guys sitting around for the 350 odd days a year that they wouldn’t be required.

I work for the Tree Cutting Department for SSEN, SSEN delivers the power to the door in the Northern part of Scotland, including Moray and Aberdeenshire.

Whenever there is a storm event the business puts people across the organisation on standby, positioning resources in the locations likely to be affected. This has taken place numerous times each storm season since I joined the business in 2016 and thankfully these events have been very benign.

Storm Arwen has been off the scale. Some of the SSEN tree cutters have been in the forestry industry for many, many years and this the worst event they have seen for the last 10 years or so. Teams have travelled up from SSE in the South and we have shifted tree cutters over from Argyle and up from Tayside.

So yes, SSE is set up to respond to events like this, however due to the sheer scale of the event it’s taking time to for the teams to cut their way in through downed forests to access the power lines, clear the trees off of the power lines and in many cases rebuild the power lines.

just getting to the lines is a challenge.

we are not talking the odd downed tree round here – we are talking square kilometers of trees clear felled and in a tangled mess.

I work for the Tree Cutting Department for SSEN

Any jobs going? 🙂

One of our local forests. Just out of shot is the Beauly Denny line….

I work for the Tree Cutting Department for SSEN

Any jobs going? 🙂

Keep an eye on this page. No jobs in Scotland on there at the moment but they do appear frequently. PM me if you are interested.

we are not talking the odd downed tree round here – we are talking square kilometers of trees clear felled and in a tangled mess.

Yup, I was driving through entire woods gone strewn across power lines and the roads. Then the poles of power lines themselves snapped clean through, one after another.

@beamers – thanks to you and your colleagues for helping get the power back on. People don’t realise how much effort goes into the provision of all of our utilities.

Re: your comment:

Storm Arwen has been off the scale. Some of the SSEN tree cutters have been in the forestry industry for many, many years and this the worst event they have seen for the last 10 years or so.

I’m sure that the guys are correct re: the last 10 yrs. However Arwen isn’t off the scale, it’s very much towards the lower end of the scale in terms of impact and widespread damage.

Arwen is essentially a localised but very disruptive storm in the context of European windstorms. The disruption has been to transport and utility infrastructures but thankfully there has not been too much damage to buildings.

We tend to have several large windstorms in most years across western Europe but in the last 10-15 years we’ve been quite lucky in that these damaging storms have occurred in places where few people live, so the general public tend to forget that we frequently get them. (I’m looking at this from a European view as these storm systems are massive and don’t stop at national borders).

Arwen is small compared to the great storm of 1987 (87J is it’s meteo name) where it felled millions of trees in the UK & France. When Storm Erwin hit Sweden in 2005 it caused a loss of 70-80 million cubic metres of trees..that’s a lot of trees!!!

Why am I saying this?? …. well it’s back to the comments above and my comments earlier on Covid. In the UK we are poor at communicating and understanding risk, as a society we ignore important stuff ………. like the weather forecast 🤦‍♂️

I’m sure that the guys are correct re: the last 10 yrs. However Arwen isn’t off the scale, it’s very much towards the lower end of the scale in terms of impact and widespread damage.

The scale I’m talking about is the number of supply faults and the time its taking to get the power back on:

^^ The number in each blue circle represents the number of faults in that area, if you zoom in then you see each individual one, like the red icons. 4th day of the response and there are still 286 faults, not all tree related, or storm related, but most will be.

More info on SSEN Powertrack

The disruption has been to transport and utility infrastructures but thankfully there has not been too much damage to buildings.

Are you being serious?

I’m sure that the guys are correct re: the last 10 yrs. However Arwen isn’t off the scale, it’s very much towards the lower end of the scale in terms of impact and widespread damage.

The reason there is less damage, is that it hit some of the most empty parts of the UK. Where it has hit villages, there is massive damage to that village. Seahouses, Beadnell and Bamburgh have took massive damage, hardly any property untouched. The ones with roof damage, may get worse as there are strong winds coming tomorrow, so the already weakened structure will probably fail.

If powerlines go down in an urban environment, then it’s a relative easy fix.

When the powerlines are on a remote hill side, with blocked access and stuck under fallen trees, then it’s a lot more difficult.

The problem was surely the wind direction? We’ve had years to knock over the trees near power lines etc. from strong westerlies. A big northerly is going to knock over a whole new set of trees not previously problematic.

Possibly partially that but 98mph wind hasn’t been recorded around here before so it would only be a partial contribution.

The reason there is less damage, is that it hit some of the most empty parts of the UK.

See also Storm Bawbag – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Bawbag

Arwen does seem to have been a beast, a combination of strength and wind direction. The impact and clear up is going to take months for infrastructure, years for forests.

As ever, the northern and less populous areas get less news coverage.

Can you imagine if this was Cambridgeshire and North London, the BBC would have multiple presenters out and rolling live newsfeeds…

The problem was surely the wind direction?

Very much this.

Its also worth noting that we don’t routinely remove trees which are within falling distance of the network. We maintain them so that they don’t grow into the vicinity zone (0.5m for some LV up to 3.5m for 132kV which is the big stuff on the steel towers).

Keeping them out of the vicinity zone means that they can be cut, by our tree cutters, safely and without the power needing to be turned off.

Removing all of the trees within falling distance would be a huge job, and not something that a lot of landowners would agree to anyway.

Having said that Storm Arwen has removed quite a few of those trees for us!

I feel your pain Drac – I’m a bit south of you and we’ve got no power but at least we’re accessible and most stuff round here does have power. The chainsaw has been busy though. Must be harsh for people in more remote places (I always tell people we live on the edge of nowhere, middle of nowhere is about 30 miles west of us 😉 ). Good luck supporting them you’re all doing a grand job!

On that note what is it with people getting on the case of the power companies on FB etc. ? As if they have 1000s of people just sitting around in pickups ready to go all year round FFS.

wind direction is a large factor, so are antecedant conditions, i.e. what went on beforehand – if the soil is saturated, trees in leaf etc.

For an individual who’s house is badly damaged it’s a disaster but when you look at the wider picture at a national level we got of lightly. Homeowners have insurance and they’ll fix the houses (eventually).

If Arwen had a slightly different track it could have been a lot worse at a national level, there was almost coastal flooding/storm surge on the east coast caused by the wind, again this could of been worse.

On that note what is it with people getting on the case of the power companies on FB etc. ? As if they have 1000s of people just sitting around in pickups ready to go all year round FFS.

I have a local FB page where someone properly kicked off about it – until someone else pointed out that the process involved their son, chainsaws, a Landrover, wandering around dark hillsides in appalling weather, climbing over the fallen trees aware that there may be live power lines hidden, then cleaning up the mess, installing new cables/poles/insulators etc and connecting it all back up again physically, on the ground… The initial post about a 4 hour power loss was quickly deleted.

I do think some folk have no idea how such infrastructure works or what it takes to keep it working.

I feel your pain Drac – I’m a bit south of you and we’ve got no power but at least we’re accessible and most stuff round here does have power.

I’m fortunate as Alnwick has kept power most of the time, still not odd street off, I’ve also had no property damage or at least what I know of. I’ve not actually had a chance for a proper check with being nights. Lots have though including colleagues who got home 17 hours after leaving work to find their house had no roof. There’s masses of property damage from what I seen and that was just in the headlights as there was no power.

Good luck supporting them you’re all doing a grand job!

Cheers but it is literally my job. The smile on staff’s faces as I gave them a hot drink was worth it, it was like gave them a million pounds.

For an individual who’s house is badly damaged it’s a disaster but when you look at the wider picture at a national level we got of lightly. Homeowners have insurance and they’ll fix the houses (eventually).

We really didn’t I’m not sure your understanding just how much damage there has been.

Can you imagine if this was Cambridgeshire and North London, the BBC would have multiple presenters out and rolling live newsfeeds…

This is always brought up, people after the floods down south moaning that no-one would care if it flooded up north, then it flooded up north and there was loads of coverage.

then it flooded up north

Todmorden, all things relative, aint that far north…

😜

You must be exhausted @beamers . I’ll keep an eye out for utility felling jobs. I’d love to move to Scotland when the time is right, for now I’ll keep eyes peeled locally (though that advertised hourly rate isn’t great!)

Glasgow’s been pretty clear, a bit of rain is all.

Far better than being stuck in a pub for three days with an Oasis tribute band. That must have been pretty harrowing.

As ever, the northern and less populous areas get less news coverage.

Can you imagine if this was Cambridgeshire and North London, the BBC would have multiple presenters out and rolling live newsfeeds…

Why is this supprising? Something that effects more people and is easier to access get more news coverage. It’s not a conspiracy. There has still been pretty good new coverage from what I have seen / heard (I don’t wantch TV so can’t comment on that) but is been a long way from ignored.

@houns – The hourly rate isn’t great, however there’s a host of benefits that come with it, shares, discount schemes etc etc. Also, all kit and equipment, vehicles and fuel are provided, along with training as required. Some guys get their heads turned by the hourly rate they can earn working for contractors, however in most cases they have to pay for / provide all of the above themselves. Plus the amount of work can be inconsistent.

Our guys work throughout the year and all they have to provide themselves are their undercrackers.

(I’m an office drone by the way, providing admin support / co-ordination to the field staff. I’d more than likely end up as a casualty if I started wielding a chainsaw in anger!)

Ah yes the thought of my own truck and kit is appealing!

^^^ Pretty close @ElShalimo:

I’m just jealous. I can’t be trusted with scissors never mind a chainsaw

Can you imagine if this was Cambridgeshire and North London, the BBC would have multiple presenters out and rolling live newsfeeds…

To be fair to the BBC I tweeted that I’d had a shrub blown over and they did send a news crew. They’re also planning a 6 part documentary about it. Tom Hardy will be cast as the Potato Vine and Stephen Fry will be doing the voice over. They’ve asked me not to post any photos as southern viewers would find it too distressing without the five part build up to the traumatic event.

The great thing about chainsawing is it’s like bikes. You can pick a brand/ cc/bar size and be a dick about it.

Huskys for the win do I see @beamers? Wait… Nope. One of each. How do you cope?

As long as it’s sharp, starts, has enough grunt and is safe I don’t care

Chatting with my buddy Clark from Bennachie Bike Bothy sounds pretty tough in Aberdeenshire, but also sounds a lot like people aren’t getting off their backsides and helping themselves in many cases! Overall though sounds like a sterling job being done in the ‘Shire to help out the local communities and get things back on track.

Clark and the team have done a sterling job gathering supplies and distributing out to the area setting them selves up as a drop in centre.

There is an aspect of folk not even bothering to report faults. One of my neighbours is having a moan they have no power -the faults not logged on the system.

They didn’t realise they were house 1 of 1 on the end of that line that had no power *someone else will do it*

Does anyone know if the Puffer course has been impacted?

The power companies are doing an amazing job, given the pure scale and damage done. Still a few locations around here without power, they’ve been told maybe Friday. Even parts of Alnwick high street and houses behind it only came back on last night.

Does anyone know if the Puffer course has been impacted?

I don’t think so. A friend of mine went round it last night and didn’t mention any issues.

but also sounds a lot like people aren’t getting off their backsides and helping themselves in many cases!

Parents of one of my team at work are from the ‘shire. Apparently they and neighbours have been out and cleaned up access roads – handsaws, some chainsaws, lots of folk using caravan/camper/BBQ to make meals, warmth and cuppas, and sharing the help out., taking elderly to appointments etc.

One set of neighbours though is resolutely sat in a cold dark house moaning that the council and energy companies are crap – and then not turning out to help anyone else who is actually getting on with things as they can…

Does anyone know if the Puffer course has been impacted?

I don’t think so. A friend of mine went round it last night and didn’t mention any issues.

So I’ll need to find my own excuse for bailing out rather than being offered one on a plate.

It’s been lively for a bit round this manor. Only just got online as we’ve finally relented and moved into the Swan at newby bridge.
Should be back on temp power Friday afternoon. It’s been a mess. 40 trees fallen on the Lane to our place. That takes a bit of clearing.

Still it’ll be sorted soon enough.

Can you imagine if this was Cambridgeshire and North London, the BBC would have multiple presenters out and rolling live newsfeeds…