Loss of Gas, Water or Power
What is the risk of a loss of gas, water or power in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire?
Gas, water and electricity disruptions can happen across Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire due to weather, infrastructure faults or accidents.
Most outages are short-lived, but rural areas may experience longer delays simply because they are further from key infrastructure.
Electricity, gas and water networks are closely linked, so a failure in one can sometimes impact the others.
Utility companies have strong plans in place to restore services quickly and keep communities informed.
How could a loss of gas, water or power
affect you and your property?
Gas, water and power are essential parts of our lives.
- Risk to life
- Health impacts on the elderly and vulnerable
- Loss of income
- Impact on ability to cook food
- Impact on communications
- Food poisoning risk
- Failure of medical equipment that requires a power supply
- Significant strain on responding organisations
- Access to ATMs/banking services
We can all be better prepared to
respond and recover from loss of utilities
Follow these practical steps so you and your family can be better prepared for a loss of gas, water or power.
Ensure you have access to a phone, such as a charged mobile phone or land line that doesn't rely on electricity to operate, and device cables/chargers
It is recommended that people who may require additional support sign up to the National Grid Priority Service Register (PSR)
If you or a member of your family would be particularly vulnerable during a power cut, register as a priority customer with National Grid.
Make sure you know how to turn off your utilities in an emergency
These could be in or outside of your property.
Create an emergency kit
This should include:
A portable battery-powered or wind up radio
Torches or battery-operated lights
Batteries
Copies of insurance and other important papers
Bottled water
Some tinned food
First aid kit
Cash
Essential toiletries
Baby supplies
Pet supplies
Essential medication
Spare clothes
Things to keep you and the kids entertained
Wrap-up your pipes
Pipes can be exposed to freezing temperatures if they're in a part of your home that isn't heated. Severn Trent recommend that any water pipes which are exposed to cold temperatures should be protected with lagging.
Find your stop tap
If there's a burst pipe at home, the fastest way to stop the flow is to turn your stop tap off. Normally they're under the kitchen sink or in the downstairs toilet.
If your home has a water storage tank, it may have an additional stop tap near to the tank itself.
Ensure that any medication is accessible.
How to prepare
your business
To respond to a loss of gas, water or electricity
- If you experience a power cut in your area, you can call ‘105’ to report it and get further information.
- Keep doors and windows closed, including internal doors. This will trap heat in one or two rooms.
- Block draughts by fitting draught excluders, or by rolling a towel and wedging it under your door.
- Dress warmly, layering up with cotton, wool or fleece. If it’s really chilly indoors you might benefit from outdoor clothes too, such as a coat, hat and scarf.
- Consider keeping one light switch turned on so you know when the power returns.
- If you have neither gas or electricity, cook foods in a well-ventilated area such as outside on a barbecue. Never use a barbeque inside a home, tent or caravan.
- Use foods that don’t require cooking, such as salad vegetables, tinned meats, breads and breakfast cereals.
For loss of gas, if in doubt call the National Gas Emergency Service number on 0800 111 999.
Although it may not directly relate to a loss of gas, if you smell gas inside a property there are several steps that you should take:
- DO turn off your gas supply at the gas meter. You are looking for the handle that is located near the gas meter. Turn the handle a quarter turn or 90 degrees across the gas pipe.
- DO open doors and windows to ventilate the property.
- Extinguish any naked flames such as cigarettes or candles.
- Call the National Gas Emergency Service number on 0800 111 999 to report it and get advice.
- DO NOT turn on or off any electrical equipment such as light switches.
- If the gas leak is in a cellar or basement, do not enter and instead evacuate the building.
Find your emergency contacts for loss of gas, water or power
How to recover from a loss of utilities
Do not refreeze any defrosted food this can cause food poisoning.
In the case of a loss of gas, DO NOT simply turn on your own gas supply. A gas emergency engineer will visit every property to complete the safety checks required to turn a property’s gas supply and check gas appliances. Should further work need to be done on your gas appliance, a Gas Safe engineer will need to be called.
What can you do to support your community?
What is being done to become
better prepared?
We work together to:
- Manage supply interruptions with utility companies.
- Produce multi-agency plans to manage long-term utilities outages, and protect essential services.
- Identify vulnerable people impacted when an emergency occurs to ensure the right support is provided in the event of utilities outages.
National Grid has well-developed plans to reconnect power supplies in the event of widespread power cuts.
Who is responsible for managing
a loss of gas, water or power in our counties?
If you're experiencing a power cut:
If your water tastes and smells unusual:
For emergency contacts when you can smell gas:
Further resources
Some of our partners
