Fife Council has apologised to residents after being overwhelmed by calls during Tuesday’s storm.
More than 8,000 calls were made to the council as trees tumbled and buildings were ravaged by gales. Despite drafting in extra staff, the authority still struggled to answer many requests for emergency repairs.
Council customer service manager Diarmuid Cotter said: ”We take customer service very seriously and in the last few years have changed the way we do things in response to severe weather.
”In preparation for the high winds on January 3 we took a range of proactive measures including drafting in extra staff to answer the high volume of calls we expected.
”But, despite that, on the day the council’s contact centre received 8,177 calls, compared to the average 3,000 calls we usually receive.
”This extremely high volume of calls meant at some times there were longer queues and we apologise if anyone had problems getting through to us.
”Requests for over 600 ‘jobs’ were sent out which ranged from roof repairs to fallen trees. In response to high call levels, staff worked hard to update all our other customer channels including social networking, telephone messages and Fife Direct to provide other ways for customers to get the information they required.
”Enquiries were also answered on the social networking channels in an attempt to reduce call volumes.”
Dunfermline resident Bill Robb was less than impressed with the council’s reaction after trying to contact the authority on behalf of neighbours, whose home had suffered structural damage.
He said: ”At 9.01am, I phoned the emergency repair number for Fife Council and was told, by a voice, that it may take more than five minutes to answer my call, which I was making on behalf of others. After 20 minutes, my call dropped out. This was repeated on several occasions a costly exercise.
”I gave the normal repair number a buzz, but was told by another voice to call back on Wednesday the fifth as it was a holiday period. In other words, Fife Council’s emergency services were totally inadequate and unprepared for the volume of emergency calls being made by tenants.”