A council-led review is underway looking into the aftermath of Storm Arwen which left thousands of Northumberland residents without power for nearly two weeks. 
 

And the views of residents and businesses will be crucial to understand what lessons can be learned by all the agencies involved. 
 

When the severe winds hit the county on November 26 last year, thousands of homes were left without electricity and water supplies for days. 

The council launched its emergency response along with its partners and utility companies and a major incident was later declared, bringing in military help to support those still without power a week after the storm. 
 

Announcing the review, which is being organised by the council’s scrutiny committee, Council Leader Glen Sanderson praised the overall response but said he hoped residents were never again "let down as they were this time". 
 

“I want to again pay tribute to all those who worked so hard to help all those in need – from our own staff and members through to all the organisations and especially our communities themselves – that was wonderful to see. 
 

"But we must ensure residents are not let down as they were this time. The most important part for me is to ensure that local people, local residents, who have suffered so much, can place their questions and make their statements. 
 

“We have got to make sure that investment takes place following this, whether that’s providing infrastructure for communities to run their own generators or whether it’s just to make sure that the infrastructure that’s there is fully fit for purpose.” 
 

Councillor Jeff Reid, who is overseeing the review, said: “It is only right we look into all the events of November and December and capture everything that went well and also where things can improve in dealing with future incidents. 
 

“We’ll be pulling together all the evidence we can from partners and many of the councillors involved in the review are those whose areas suffered some of the worst damage of the storm. 
 

“We also want to hear from residents and businesses who were affected about the issues they faced and suggestions they may have about what we could do to improve the response if the situation was ever to happen again.” 
 

The review is expected to publish its findings in the coming months. 
 

Any comments can be forwarded to nccstormarwenreview@northumberland.gov.uk or by post to: 

Mr Sean Nicholson 

Scrutiny Co-ordinator 

Democratic Services 

County Hall 

Morpeth 

NE61 2EF 
 

Queries regarding compensation due to loss of power during the storm should be directed to Northern Powergrid at:  https://www.northernpowergrid.com/storm-arwen