Cable damage causes Orkney islands blackout 26 July 2013 Last updated at 12:04 Hundreds of people on five Orkney islands were left without power after a subsea electricity cable was damaged. About 950 households on Shapinsay, Sanday, Stronsay, Eday and North Ronaldsay were affected when supplies were lost at about 04:30. Emergency generators are being shipped to the islands in an effort to restore supplies within 24 hours. It was expected that power would be back on both Shapinsay and Sanday by Friday afternoon. It was hoped that Eday and Stronsay would follow in the evening, or by Saturday morning. Engineers from Scottish and Southern Energy are working to tackle the fault. The Orkney local emergency co-ordinating group, which met on Friday morning, said it was expected that the impact of the power cut would be minimal. Mobile phone networks in the area may experience some disruption, but landlines and the 999 service have been unaffected.