Two-and-a-half-day power cut adds insult to injury

Johannes Lindahl and Molly Lindner were forced to seek temporary housing after Storm Hans flattened their farm in Lainejaur, near Malå, and they were left without power for 60 hours, from 3pm on Tuesday.

"When I looked outside, I saw that the garage was about to collapse," says Molly Lindner.

"When I looked outside, I saw that the garage was about to collapse," says Molly Lindner.

Foto: Johannes Lindahl (Privat)

Malå2023-08-11 15:47

– We couldn't stay, so we emptied the fridge and freezer and moved out, said Johannes. 

The couple is currently staying with Molly's parents. 

– Our farm is totally destroyed. The greenhouse is flat, the boathouse flew away, parts of the roof are gone and there's water in the house. The fence, which had just been finished a few days ago, is also gone, Johannes laments.

The neighbours, who are Johannes's parents, had their power restored at 4 am on Friday. 

But they, too, had to find temporary accommodation. 

– We have been sleeping at our daughter's in Malå. We had to start calling friends to help us get things into the freezer, says Peder Lindahl.  

– I hope Lainejaur was the worst hit, so no one else has it worse than us, he adds.

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Molly and Johannes are currently living with Molly's parents.

When the storm broke out, Johannes Lindahl was in Umeå, while Molly Lindner was at home in Lainejaur. 

– First, the power went out, and then the wind made a very loud noise and rattled all the windows, Molly says. When she looked out the window, she didn't quite understand what had happened. 

– All the trees were bending, and the garage was about to collapse.

After ten minutes, the worst had passed. 

– I didn't know the roof had been torn apart then. But it rained heavily, and water began to come in the house. We had to put a tarp over the roof, Molly says.

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Around 15:00 on Tuesday the power went out.

Skellefteå Kraft announced on Friday morning that 35 households in Malå municipality, 15 households in Norsjö municipality, and three households in Skellefteå municipality still lack power.

Helicopters are still being used to look for damaged lines and prevent new locations from being affected. On Friday, the company will use a helicopter to fly over the Burvik area towards Skellefteå.

Compensation is available for customers affected by continuous power outages lasting longer than twelve hours. 

–There's nothing you need to apply for. We see in our system how long customers have been without power, and the compensation is sent automatically, says Matti Kataja, press officer at Skellefteå Kraft.

During Thursday, large areas in Arvidsjaur and Arjeplog were also affected by power cuts. A fault on the main cable left 8,357 customers without power. By early on Friday morning, most people had power restored, and according to Natalie Sial Berkman, press manager at Vattenfall, the problem should be completely fixed now.

Rätt till ersättning

You are usually eligible for outage compensation if you experienced a continuous outage that lasted more than 12 hours. If the power cut caused damage, you may be entitled to compensation for that damage, regardless of how long the outage lasted.

Source: Skellefteå Kraft