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Efforts to clean up storm damage Power restored after storm chaos
(1 day later)
Clean-up operations are under way in the north, north east and the Northern Isles following floods and road closures on Thursday and Friday. Thousands of customers who had been without power in Aberdeenshire, the Highlands and Moray after last week's storms have all now been reconnected.
Scottish Hydro Electric said that about 1,000 customers cut off in the storms were still without power in Aberdeenshire, the Highlands and Moray. It comes as communities clean up the damage caused by torrential rain and floods on Thursday and Friday.
A spokesman said it was hoped engineers would have everyone reconnected by the end of Saturday. A spokesman for Scottish Hydro Electric said that the last 1,000 households without power had their supplies restored by the end of Saturday.
The A9 has fully reopened but there are no rail services north of Inverness. Extra engineers drafted in to assist with the work have been stood down.
We are confident we have the manpower to try to restore supplies for everyone just about by tonight Scottish Hydro Electric spokesman Initially about 50,000 customers suffered blackouts, with the problem reduced to small pockets across Aberdeenshire, the Highlands and Moray.
A spokesman for Scottish Hydro Electric said: "We now have under 1,000 customers currently without power, with the problem spread in small pockets across Aberdeenshire, the Highlands and Moray.
"Engineers worked through until three or four this morning and then again at first light to reconnect thousands of homes, with many of the problems being caused by trees - and in one case even a flagpole - falling onto overhead lines.
"We hope to have everyone's supply reconnected by tonight, there may be one or two people still without power but we are confident we have the manpower to try to restore supplies for just about everyone by tonight."
He added that anyone finding overhead power lines which had been blown down should call the emergency line on 0800 300 999 and keep clear because the cable could still be live.
Heavy rains brought disruption to much of Easter Ross
Sections of the A9 had been closed by the effects of the weather and the discovery of four unexploded bombs.
The devices were safely detonated after being unearthed by severe flooding at the Catalina Junction near Alness, close to the site of a former World War II sea plane base.
A spokeswoman for Northern Constabulary said that all roads in the force area had now reopened and the area was returning to normal.
However, the A9 will be closed from 1200 GMT to 1500 GMT on Sunday, between Portgower and Helmsdale, for essential repairs to be carried out by Network Rail to the railway line.
The response to the floods has been criticised by some politicians, including John Farquhar Munro, MSP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West, who said he wanted to see more help for flooded communities.
Emergency planners have been meeting to discuss the clean-up situation in Easter Ross, Caithness and Sutherland after the flooding and winds which reached 90mph in some areas.
The heavy downfall also caused flooding and disruption in areas of the Northern Isles, including Kirkwall.The heavy downfall also caused flooding and disruption in areas of the Northern Isles, including Kirkwall.