30 November 2021

Storm Arwen update 30.11.21 - schools and welfare centres

 

UPDATE: 7PM 30.11.21

Schools

There has been a magnificent cross-service effort to get as many schools opened tomorrow (Wed) – only 21 remain closed at this stage -
our online article has been updated confirming those which remain closed:
https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/apps/news/release.aspx?newsID=8361

Roads and Infrastructure

Owing to dangerous trees, we’re closing the A97 between Deskry and Glenkindie House with immediate effect and we will work with the landowner to get it reopened as quickly as possible. A diversion will be signposted via A97 Glenkindie House – A944 Mossat; A944 – A980 Alford; A980 – B993 Torphins; B993 – A93 Kincardine O Neil; A93 – A97 Dinnet and vice versa.

In terms of our winter operations tonight, all primary routes are on standby this evening and a number of routes will be treated from 5.40am tomorrow morning , mainly in the Marr area.

Snow gates at A939 Lecht and A93 Glenshee now open as is the Cairn o’ Mount road.

Live Life Aberdeenshire

All LLA facilities are scheduled to be open as normal, and hot showers are still available for residents who still need them - no charge! - and you can still access WiFi and mobile phone/device charging.

However, please note that some facilities have amended opening hours as follows:

Portlethen – will close at 7pm not 9pm
Huntly – will open later at 11am and may close early - time tbc
Banchory Sports Village – open as normal but swimming starting later at noon
Aboyne Community Centre – Closed

Community Testing

Our community testing provision for those without Covid symptoms and collection of lateral flower self test kits has been cancelled tomorrow to allow operatives to be redeployed to assist with resilience efforts including delivery of hot food to our communities.

SSEN/Scottish Water

More significant progress reported by SSEN today with the number of households still awaiting reconnection expected to come down to around 4,000 or even a bit lower by 8am tomorrow morning, however some of those remaining connections may prove complex and might involve the introduction of generators in some areas meantime.

Scottish Water report that the number of customers who remain without water is down to around 800. They continue to supply both our welfare centres and SSEN catering vans with bottled water.

Transportation

Delayed slightly by Storm Arwen, we’re delighted to announce our new purpose-built bus way at Ellon Park and Ride will be open for operations from 10am tomorrow (Wed).
As a result, the temporary bus turning and public waiting facilities in the car park area will be closed to allow for completion of the car park extension – however the existing waiting room will remain open as normal.
Buses will now be utilising the new bus way and 3 signed stances as follows:
Stance 1 will serve Aberdeen southbound services 
Stance 2 will serve Peterhead/Fraserburgh northbound services
Stance 3 will serve local services

Service Points/Helpline

• HAC (assistance centre) Storm Arwen - telephone 0808 1963 384 - will now be operating from 8am to 8pm to provide assistance/signposting to residents

• Aberdeenshire Council Service Points also continue to provide that assistance to communities

Resilience

• Care of People continues to be our major focus along with partners and there continues to be a wealth of local community activity and support taking place across Aberdeenshire and as part of that we are talking with local community leaders to see what additional support is required and in which key location

• The welfare centre at Victoria and Albert Hall in Ballater continues to operate and the Fife Arms Hotel in Braemar had diesel and food delivered by us, now has full power and continues to provide community assistance

• In conjunction with SSEN we are planning a joint approach with partners to make contact with vulnerable groups within those communities still affected by the aftermath of Storm Arwen

• Following confirmation from SSEN that there is now power provision at the following locations, we are opening up welfare centres this afternoon to provide hot food, drinks and bottled water

• We also have two identified facilities to act as 24/7 rest centres should there be an identified need within the community

• This is a precautionary approach meantime – if our teams find that communities already have provision and are coping, we will look to divert our support to other communities which need that support and will promote accordingly

MARR – hot food from 2.30-4pm
• Aboyne - The Aboyne and Glentanar Victory Hall, Ballater Road, Aboyne, AB34 5HD
• Alford - The Alford Public Hall, 3 Kingsford Road, AB33 8HH
• Gartly – The Gartly Community Hall (Tin Hut), Craggiemhor Kirkney, Huntly, AB54 4QD (24/7 rest centre if required)
• Lumsden – Lumsden Community Hall, The Square, Lumsden, AB54 4GQ
• Rhynie – No 14, the Square, Rhynie, AB54 4HD
• Strathdon – Lonach Hall, Strathdon, AB36 8UN
• Torphins – Learney Hall, 9 Beltie Road, Torhpins, AB31 4JT
• Monymusk – The Square, Monymusk, AB51 7HJ – food delivered from community hall

BANFF & BUCHAN – hot food from 3-4pm
• Boyndie/Hilton – Hilton Hall, AB45 3AQ (24/7 rest centre if required)

GARIOCH
• Local arrangements in place

KINCARDINE AND MEARNS
• Local arrangements in place

FORMARTINE – hot food from 3-4pm
• Auchterless Primary School – catering van
• Birkenhill – Birkenhills Community Centre, 1 Lendrum Road, AB53 8EQ

BUCHAN (school estate) – hot food from 3-4pm
• Auchnagatt Primary School
• Boddam Primary School
• Crimond Primary School
• Hatton (Cruden) Primary School
• New Deer Primary School

SSEN catering vans update (Scottish Water bottled water points also here):
• Bellabeg, Strathdon – Lay-by across from the shop
• Kintore – Primary School
• Aboyne – Park Hotel Car Park
• Alford – Transport Museum Car Park
• Torphins – In the Square
• Turriff – Tesco Car Park
• Rhynie – Church Car Park
• Ballater – Victoria Hall
• Tarland – In the Square

Education

• We are pleased to confirm the return to school tomorrow for the majority of Aberdeenshire's staff and pupils

• Assessment of all 170 Aberdeenshire schools has been completed to assess storm damage, access routes, and check if power, heating and water supplies are operational. Repairs are complete or underway where necessary and we are continuing to put safety first

• We are still problem solving in some areas, with power connection being the main barrier to re-opening some facilities. If your school is listed below, it will NOT re-open tomorrow based on the current information we have:
 
Secondaries
Alford Academy (closed for S1 to S3 and open for S4 to S6 pupils only) 
 
Primaries
Auchterless
Cluny
Craigievar
Crathes
Crimond
Crudie
Cultercullen
Finzean 
King Edward
Largue
Lumsden
Lumphanan 
Monymusk
Rhynie
St Andrews (Fraserburgh)
St Cyrus
Strathdon
Tough
Towie
Tullynessle

Nurseries
Ballogie Nursery
Crossroads Nursery (part of Durris Primary - but the primary school will open)
 
• We will update the school closures page of our website this evening and in to tomorrow, and if the status changes for your school you will receive a notification directly from your school. Visit: https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/Apps/schools-closures/ 

• If you use school transport, this will run as normal

• Director of Education and Children's Services Laurence Findlay is keen to thank everyone for their patience. He said: "We are getting there and look forward to welcoming many of our young people back tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who has gone above and beyond during these difficult few days, whether that's helping with schools or setting up provisions for those who need it. We understand many families are still without power and we are here to support you, alongside a variety of partner organisations including Police Scotland and the Red Cross as well as many local groups, businesses and volunteers. Please use the assistance centre number below if you need it. And if your school is open but you can't get there please don't worry – school staff will work with you. The wellbeing of families comes first.”
 
• The storm assistance centre line remains open until 10pm tonight. Call 08081963384 for advice on where you can access welfare facilities, free hot meals and financial advice and assistance

• Children's services social work teams are also open and available: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/children-and-families/children-and-families-team-offices/ 

• Those who are entitled to statutory free school meals will receive an additional payment this week to make up for the two days missed in school, plus more if your school is closed for longer

WEATHER

• Met Office have forecast a deterioration in conditions in coming days – winds gusting up to 60mph along coastal areas Wednesday/Thursday

SSEN

• More communities have been reconnected today (Tues) following another robust improvement in connections over recent days – around 8,500 household still without power

• SSEN have advised network remains fragile and is more likely to suffer additional damage in the event of bad weather

• Some communities reporting getting power reconnected then falling off – this is to be expected as the wider network is worked on – Hatton, Cruden Bay and Boddam some of the known areas affected – and that may continue over the coming days

• Anyone seeking reimbursement of accommodation or food costs as a result of the power outage caused by Storm Arwen should contact SSEN as follows:

1. E-mail networks.executivecomplaints@SSEN.co.uk with a photograph of the receipt. It would be helpful if the subject of the e-mail was “Storm Arwen – Refund of Costs”
2. Send a letter to Aberdeen Depot, 200 Ashgrove Road West, Aberdeen, AB16 5NY with the receipt

Scottish Water

• Around 3,500 households still without supplies

• Remains committed to providing 10 litres per person per day to affected households

• Engineers on-site utilising generators to reinstate water supplies in affected areas until mains power is restored

• The Scottish Water emergency response is also contacting those households with private water supplies which cannot be accessed

Telecoms

• Vodaphone remains down in many areas - O2 down across most of the region - awaiting power feeds

Environment and Sustainability Services

• All Household Recycling Centres now open

• Household waste/recycling collections will be carried out but there may be some disruption due to the weather

• Day Centre transport will operate where required

• A2B operating in its entirety today (Tues) both in-house and Central Buchan operated by Kinmonth. A2B customers called yesterday and advised of update

• Ready2Go is still not running.  A robust telecoms system is required to operate - an emergency timetables service was introduced today from Insch and Rothienorman to Inverurie and another vehicle is in standby if we get a call for an emergency such as requirements to attend medical centre etc. The team has been calling Ready2Go customers and pushing notifications through the App

Health and Social Care Partnership

• All our vaccination Centres and Learning Disability Day Services re-opened today. Our Homecare, Learning Disability, Mental Health and social work teams continue to make phone and house calls to vulnerable residents and services users to ensure that everyone is safe and cared for

• On the health side, our community nursing teams and Allied Health professionals (Dieticians, Physio etc) have also been checking in on clients and those identified as vulnerable and will continue to make house calls where required

• Across the area there are still some Care Homes that are not connected to mains power but all now have generator power and we continue to liaise with colleagues to ensure that hot food is provided to those that require it

Housing

• Teams reprioritised to focus on emergency responses

• Focus remains on ensuring anyone requiring support is re-housed and Tenancy Services diverting from normal work to contact all vulnerable residents initially, followed by all residents to ensure they are okay and putting resources into sheltered housing to ensure that we have appropriate cover

Live Life Aberdeenshire

• LLA leisure facilities remain closed today for all leisure activities, but the following are open for community access to hot showers, WiFi and mobile phone/device charging:

1. Deveron Community and Sports Centre
2. Fraserburgh Community and Sports Centre
3. Peterhead Leisure and Community Centre
4. Ellon Academy Community Campus
5. Turriff Swimming Pool
6. Inverurie Community Campus
7. Westhill Pool
8. Portlethen Pool (from 4pm)
9. Stonehaven Leisure Centre
10. Huntly Pool

Roads/Travel

• Continued message is to stay indoors and avoid travel where possible

• Work continues to clear windblown debris from the road network as well as carry out winter maintenance. Small number of rural roads still affected by fallen trees with some lying on power lines.

• Landowners being contacted by ourselves to check tree belt along road network for damaged trees

• Coordinated approach continues with local estates, landowners and chainsaw operators

Forestry and land Scotland

• Forestry and Land Scotland is urging members of the public to stay away from its forests in the wake of Storm Arwen as it continues to assess the levels of damage and the associated risks to public safety. The high winds have blown down a number of trees - blocking trails and forest roads and causing other damage. There is also the risk posed by hanging trees – those that have been blown over but have been caught on standing trees or trapping power cables