Stannington gas flood: Residents urged not to use electricity during 'major incident'

Thousands of people were left without gas after flooding and have now been warned to minimise their use of electrical appliances to avoid power blackouts.

More than 1,000 homes across Stannington, Hillsborough, Upperthorpe, Kelham Island and Parson Cross lost their gas supply when a water main burst on Friday, 2 December. The Council has now declared it a "major incident".

Gas company Cadent said 100 engineers had been working to restore supplies. The company has set up a community hub handing out out alternative cooking and heating appliances to those affected.

But electrical company Northern Powergrid is now warning that the intensive use of appliances could affect power supplies.

In a statement, it said: "We have switched our network around as much as possible to help increase capacity for our customers at this time when there is increased demand on the local electricity network.

"We have communicated with customers about the importance of temporarily minimising the use of appliances, switching off or unplugging any electrical equipment that is not needed and only heating essential rooms, wherever possible. 

"We are also encouraging customers to stagger the use of high-demand electrical appliances such as cookers, heaters, kettles, immersion heaters, electric showers, dishwashers, tumble driers and washing machines, to help reduce demand on the network until Cadent is able to safely restore their gas supplies."

Cadent said the network was at risk of "overloading" and added that anyone who had already been given alternative cooking and heating facilities would not be provided with any more.

A statement on the company's website today said: "We want to make sure you are not without gas and electricity at the same time, so your help would be appreciated."

More than 200,000 litres of water have so far been pumped out of the network but Cadent have said it could be some time before all homes get their supply back.

Meanwhile, people have been posting videos on social media of the impact of the incident.

Jay Gray filmed water pouring from his gas cooker.

He said: “It’s not an ideal situation, young kids, no heating or cooking facilities and intermittent power cuts.

"There’s a huge amount of uncertainty about who’s going to repair or replace any damaged equipment or appliances.

"My fear is this will fall to homeowners to resolve via house insurance. That could take a while to sort."

The Red Cross has been called in to help with the recovery effort

Crisis response manager Anna Grafitti said: "At the request of Cadent, the British Red Cross have been supporting residents in Stannington and the surrounding area in Sheffield following a power outage affecting 1,500 to 2,000 households since Saturday.

"Our staff and volunteers have been carrying out welfare checks on people deemed vulnerable."

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