Soha Extra Care Scheme Petypher Gardens experienced a complete power outage at around 12pm on Friday 18 February due to Storm Eunice.
Two members of Soha staff were at Petypher from mid-afternoon along with a Soha contractor. Our staff together with two members of the local community visited every resident on Friday night to check on their welfare and offer bottled water and torches due there being no mains water supply or lighting at the scheme. We also offered fire safety advice and practical information about the buildings electrical systems.
A care team from Order of St John remained at the scheme as usual overnight to support residents with extra care requirements.
Soha staff attended Petypher Gardens again from 11.45am on Saturday morning as the electricity supply had not been reinstated. We considered options for providing temporary power to the scheme however this wasn’t possible short term, so we offered to move tenants into local bed and breakfast accommodation. Soha staff remained on site to support residents throughout Saturday. At 11pm full power was restored to the scheme however staff stayed on to check all systems were operational including the fire alarm, water and warden call before departing. We returned on Sunday to check on our residents’ welfare, supply food and drink and offer further support.
We would like to say a huge thank you to local residents and businesses who were wonderful in coming together to help their community and for working with us to support our residents during this challenging period.
We are also reviewing our own emergency response plans, and how we can both mitigate and better prepare for the impacts of lengthy power cuts on our residents.