Case Study: Boscastle

On Monday 17th August 2004 the Cornish coastal town of Boscastle became the unlikely subject of international media attention. A torrential downpour of rain on the town had caused severe flash flooding, leaving it in ruins. The structural damage that resulted left the town without water, sewerage or power supplies. Western Power Distribution knew that restoring power to Boscastle as quickly as possible was critical. One of the first steps was to call in Power Electrics Ltd. to deploy emergency generators that would supply sufficient auxiliary power to the town while WPD repaired the damage.

Pictures of the flooding dominated the news across the world with near unimaginable images of cars being washed into the sea and residents waiting to be winched to safety by helicopter from rooftops above the town. In places, so much water flowed through the streets that roads came up and were broken. 108 people were evacuated from Boscastle in a rescue operation involving 6 search and rescue helicopters.

WPD were alerted to the gravity of the situation when they received a call to their contact centre claiming that, "cars were crashing into our poles". Within minutes of this, the circuit breaker at Davidstowtripped out. When WPD engineers were sent to the area for switching they discovered that the roads were blocked or closed.

The overhead electricity network above Boscastle was all but destroyed. Poles were severely damaged with cars and trees that had been washed away by the floods wrapped around them. The saturated and dislodged ground had left many cable exposed and the substation was completely flooded, although the outer stone surrounding the building had held up to the force of the water.

Distribution Manager Colin Hicks said: "Whilst we knew this was happening just up the road from us we couldn't really do anything at first. We were asked by the Environment Agency to isolate supplies to the town and then it was a question of awaiting further instruction and making the best plans we could for the morning".

The initial requirement was to provide an emergency supply of power to cope with the demands of the emergency services and enable the devastated town to begin its recovery. In the aftermath, it was important that there was sufficient power to support Boscastle while teams of WPD engineers worked around the clock to reconnect homes and restore supplies to normal where possible.

"WPD incurs penalties for non-compliance in reconnecting customers so it was vital that we restored power to as many homes as possible, as quickly and as safely possible" Said Mr. Hicks.

Immediately after they learned of the disaster WPD contacted Power Electrics Ltd., the company that is contracted by WPD to supply generators in the event of any power failure. Each generator has the power to support between 10 and 20 homes. As part of their contract with WPD, Power Electrics have a 24 hour dedicated helpline to respond rapidly to situations such as Boscastle, ensuring that a viable temporary solution is quickly in place.

Steve Williams, sales manager of Power Electrics' rental division; "Our services have been developed over 40 years. This has given us unrivalled experience and a unique understanding of what WPD require when the call comes in from emergencies such as Boscastle. In order to offer a 24 Hour, 7 day cover to customers like the major utilities, our systems must work every time. This takes major investment in our products and services and personal commitment from all our staff".

Colin Hicks says that this assurance from Power Electrics provides WPD with peace of mind, knowing that Power Electrics will deliver, "We know that only one phone call will secure the service we need on time, to the right place, at the right price and to the right health and safety standards. That's the guarantee that we get."

Power Electrics received the call from WPD at 6pm on Tuesday 18th after which a generator was quickly deployed to Cornwall, reaching the village sports field just before midnight. From there, the army lifted the generator into Boscastle by helicopter. With an emergency power supply in place, WPD engineers could begin the mammoth task of reconnecting every house in the village.

"Over 800 metres of cable have been replaced together with the Boscastle transformer and switch gear. New cable routes were secured, ensuring that the continual clean up operation was not hampered by the newly energised cables" said Mr. Hicks.

Most of the damage has now been repaired although there are still a small number of properties that have not been reconnected as these houses are still not considered safe enough to be returned to. In the end, the entire WPD network had to be replaced and rebuilt, at an estimated cost of £100,000.

Colin Hicks said that the way that WPD handled the disaster was much appreciated by the people of Boscastle, "WPD have received many thank you letters and positive comments about the way the Boscastle emergency was handled. In exceptionally trying circumstances we played a major part in ensuring that customers were reconnected. That task was greatly helped by Power Electrics whose response to the situation was a credit to them".