Christmas meltdown

Tuesday, 22 December 2009

Red Cross brought in as hundreds of homes are left without heating after gas and water pipes burst in cold snap

By Nick Griffin

HUNDREDS of families were facing the prospect of a Christmas without gas after supplies failed in the sudden sub-zero temperatures.

As temperatures plunged well below freezing, at least 1,000 homes in the East Barnet area were left without heating, hot water or the means to cook hot meals.

According to National Grid, the cold weather caused a water main to burst in York Road, New Barnet, forcing water into gas pipes in the early hours of Sunday.

Hundreds queued in the cold to be issued by National Grid with one electric heater and hob per household from an incident room hastily set up at St Mary’s CofE Primary School, in Little Grove by Barnet Council. About 3,000 were handed out with dozens more brought in the following day.

But the increased strain on local electricity sub-stations then saw areas hit by power blackouts. Electricity was restored to most homes within hours but residents were still reporting sporadic power cuts as the week wore on.

Red Cross medics were drafted in to check on the health and wellbeing of elderly residents.

The water main was repaired by 2pm on Sunday and the following day workers said they hoped gas supplies would be restored within two days, but could give no assurances that every home would have gas in time for Christmas.

On Monday, workers began pumping water out of gas mains but engineers from as far afield as the Midlands and East Anglia were being mobilised to tackle the huge task of visiting every home to ensure water was cleared after being sucked into boilers, gas meters and hobs.

Warren Leven, who lives in Albemarle Road with his four children, said: “They’re giving out one heater per house but they don’t take into account of how big your house is. You can only keep one room warm. There was no information about what was going on. It’s going to ruin Christmas for a lot of people.”

Jean Bayne, of Crescent Road, added: “We did have heaters on but without electricity they’re no use.

“The house was quite warm but it’s got worse and worse and now it’s freezing.”

David Luetchford, National Grid’s head of operations, said: “Our main priority is safety. It’s a tricky operation. We’re hoping that it will take a couple of days to get things sorted and that everything will be back on by Christmas – but you can never give a guarantee.”

Residents with concerns about their gas should call 0845 605 6677.

Email: nick.griffin@nlhnews.co.uk

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2 comments on this news item

Posted by : Michael Hodge, Barnet | Tuesday 29/Dec/2009 | Report this comment

The Rotary Club of Barnet jumnps into action to safeguard threatened community Christmas Day Lunch.

The coordination and meticulous forward planning and experienced gained over many years of organising a Christams Day Party for the Elderly and Alone made it possible for the Rotary Club to react positively to the plea for assistance to the Friends in Need centre whose own plans for a Christmas Day Party were thrown into disarray by the problems with gas supply in East Barnet. The request came from the Water Board (whose burst water main had been the cause of the problem) mid-afternoon on Wednesday 23rd and by 10.00am on Christmas Eve a workable solution had been sorted!

With the goodwill of the URC Church in Wood Street allowing us to make use of what ever we needed in the Ewan Hall complex we were able to open the doors to nearly 100 people and along with volunteers from FIN the event proceeded smoothly (albeit in a slightly different format) providing traditional Christmas fayre, fun and fellowship for everyone attending.

The Christmas Day Party for the Elderly Alone and FIN was a great success.

Michael Hodge President 2009-10 Rotary Club of Barnet

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Posted by : Michael Young, East Barnet | Wednesday 23/Dec/2009 | Report this comment

Thank you Nick for a factual report of what’s happened here in East Barnet (in contrast with the anodyne Sarah Cosgrove piece in Barnet Times). It’s turned midday Wednesday and there’s no sign here of any return of the gas supply which went off on Sunday. I’ve just phoned the helpline number you quoted and been told that ’980 homes have been reconnected in East Barnet’. Mine’s not among them.

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