Who cares about a power cut in the north east?

How long could you cope without electricity, dear reader? And how many days could you endure without running water? Imagine your home was without power or water for four or even five days. What would you expect to happen? How do you think your country and your government would respond to your plight? There’d be a bit of a fuss, right?

I mean, this is an advanced industrialised economy where we have, quite reasonably, come to take the supply of basic utilities as a given. If thousands of people were left without power, heat and water — and in winter too – for the better part of a week, it would be a deal, wouldn’t it?

Actually, no. Not if those people were somewhere in the north of England. In that case, most of the country would barely notice, much less care. As of late on Tuesday night, tens of thousands of people in north Northumberland were still without electricity, after a power cut that began last Friday when Storm Arwen blew through the county with winds nearing 100mph.