Cornwall has yet to recover from the effects of Storm Goretti. Only four days prior to Maria’s arrival, the region was battered with nearly 100 mph storm gusts, leaving a path of destruction and chaos. The storm even caused the U.K. to issue a rare red warning for “dangerous, stormy” winds, knocking out electric and water for more than 50,000 homes. As of Monday afternoon, about 1,250 homes and businesses in the district of Helston were still without electricity. Moreover, nearly 3,000 residences had their water service interrupted.
Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, Andrew George, has called for a national emergency declaration due to the extensive disruption caused by the storm. He articulated a deep concern for those most vulnerable in the community. As George put it, “If this occurred in London or the home counties, this would be in the national headlines for days and a national emergency would be declared by the government.”
The effects of Storm Goretti were deeply felt all across Cornwall. Sam Bottomley, the water services director for Devon and Cornwall, said that storm felled 30 to 40 trees. Many of these trees fell straight onto the mains infrastructure leading to the Wendron water treatment works. Six large diameter water mains in the Helston area from which complaints went unheeded were severely damaged by the storm.
Inadvertently, a tragic outcome was seen when a man in his 50s died due to the situation. A tree fell on his caravan in the storm. Cornwall Council announced the tragic loss of life resulting from Storm Goretti. They added that 31 schools in their region are closed or delayed due to the storm’s impact.
South West Water (SWW) called the impact on its water network “devastating,” and is still in the process of completing repair works. The company has already managed to restore supplies to more than half of people hit by the outages. Even so, they admit that the hardest work is yet to come. As George pointed out, “16,500 homes” have been rattled by unacceptable water outages.
With all the craziness, people have found ways to settle in and make it feel like home. A local business owner commented on their luck in avoiding power outages and maintaining water access: “We’ve been quite lucky. The electric didn’t go off and we have our own well water, so we’ve been able to keep our doors open.”
Unfortunately, this has not been the reality for all residents. As one resident wrote in despair, “Yesterday evening, our central water supply was cut off a second time, after being recently restored. This again underscores the tenuousness of core services.
Transport Secretary Mary Creagh MP expressed her sympathy for residents suffering during the crisis of over four hundred companies. She pointed to the impact of the extreme cold snap and Storm Goretti – cold weather that has largely impacted south-eastern and south-western areas.