North Yorkshire residents left without running water for three days after Storm Arwen
Some residents have been left without water ever since Storm Arwen hit on Friday night.
Householders in the Sutton Bank area – including Old Byland, Cold Kirby and Scawton, lost their supply. It was apparently due to the storm causing a power surge which disrupted a pumping station.
Nikki Otterburn told David Dunning on YorkMix Radio: “The water went off during the storm when it started on Friday evening, and we’ve had nothing since then and it’s now Monday dinner time.
“There’s no running water there’s everything’s frozen, obviously with the temperatures anyway.
“The storm was bad enough, because you’ve got fence damage and wind damage.
“And we’ve got no power. You’ve got no TV, no radio, no toilet, you can’t wash your hands, you can’t have a shower. So basically, it’s like camping in your house.”
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue helped out racing stables on top of Sutton Bank, refilling the horses’ water troughs.
‘We’ve been forgotten’
Vicky Smart, of Brian Smart Racing in Hambleton, Thirsk, said: “They’re so kind – they’ve said that they’ll come back tonight or tomorrow if we need more.
“But what concerns me is the total lack of any concern for human beings or animals, we just feel like we’ve forgotten little hamlet of Hambleton.”
She said she understood that the storm had caused a big repair job on the pumping station.
“But what we’re so frustrated with is the fact that nobody’s been in touch. The only way we can get in touch with Yorkshire Water is on social media. And they just said they know there’s a problem and they’re dealing with it.
“But in the past if we’ve ever had the power go down or water go down, they brought a bowser and drinking water for the horses and people.”
A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water told YorkMix: ““Storm Arwen caused significant issues across Yorkshire this weekend, including power cuts to some of our sites.
“Access to some areas has also been restricted by the weather and damage caused by the storm.
“Our teams have been working day and night to support our customers, as lots of our network relies on power to get water to customers’ properties.
“We’ve been working closely with Northern Power Grid and have restored power to the nearby pumping station this afternoon. Water is just making its way through our network and should be in customers’ taps soon.
“We’re also sending a backup tanker to the area so that businesses with livestock can refill their reserve tanks.”