Storm Eunice Update – Amber Wind Warning remains, power and water outages, rest centres stood down, tenant services repairs
Published: Friday, 18 February, 2022
Storm Eunice rest centres set up by Stroud District Council at Whitminster Village Hall and Sharpness Village Hall have been stood down, following updated information from the Environment Agency and Met Office today.
This followed a rare Red Weather Warning issued by the Met Office for yesterday, which has now been downgraded to Amber – this does still pose a good chance of a danger to life however.
High winds and a high tide created a tidal surge but not one high enough to overtop flood defences, and we have not been made aware of flooding to properties in the area. High winds arrived one to two hours later than predicted, so did not combine with high tides to overtop flood defences.
The rest centres were run by Stroud District Council staff from 7am today until 1pm, after some 1,400 homes at flood risk were individually leafleted on Thursday afternoon by 40 SDC staff and 20 police officers in just a few hours.
“I would like to thank the volunteers who run both village halls for their assistance in helping the council set up the rest centres so quickly, and Gloucestershire Police and our own officers who hand-delivered 1,400 letters door-to-door yesterday afternoon to advise residents of what action to take,” said Councillor Chris Brine, Chair of SDC Community Services and Licensing Committee.
“We acted on the best advice from colleagues across Gloucestershire and the region, and thankfully we have had a very lucky escape in terms of flooding but we have seen storm damage across the district and some people have been injured and property damaged by wind – our thoughts are with them all.”
Council House Repairs
Meanwhile SDC’s Tenant Services team has completed urgent repairs, servicing, and electrical visits this morning together with making safe works in Nailsworth, Eastington and Cam. Tenant Services will respond to emergencies as they are received.
Amber Wind Warning – Danger to life
The Amber Warning for wind will remain in place until 9pm today (Friday, February 18) and a Yellow Warning for wind until 6pm tomorrow. Currently there are no wind warnings covering Gloucestershire for Sunday.
The Amber Warning means:
- There is a good chance that flying debris could result in a danger to life
- Damage to buildings and homes is likely, with roofs blown off and power lines brought down
- Roads, bridges and railway lines are likely to close, with delays and cancellations to bus, train, ferry services and flights
- There is a good chance that power cuts, possibly prolonged, could occur , perhaps affecting other services, such as mobile phone coverage
- Large waves are likely and beach material is likely to be thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties, and flooding of some coastal properties seems likely.
- It is likely there will be falling branches and some uprooted trees
Power outages
Power outages are affecting hundreds of homes across the district but Western Power Distribution is working hard to restore service – for live updates: https://powercuts.westernpower.co.uk/ or call 105.
Water supplies
Severn Trent Water is working on interruptions in Frampton-on-Severn and surrounding areas in the GL2, GL10 and GL11 areas – for updates: https://www.stwater.co.uk/ or call 0800 783 4444.
Bin Collections
As reported yesterday, Friday’s waste and recycling collections were postponed.
SDC waste collection partner Ubico will aim to catch up the missed refuse and recycling collections on Monday, February 21. Residents whose collections are affected should re-present residual waste (grey bin) and recycling at 6am on Monday.
Food waste collections will not be re-scheduled and residents should present food waste again next Friday.
If your waste and recycling is not collected on Monday, please leave it in situ and collections will be made as soon as possible.
Garden waste collections will be held over to the next collection date but residents can put an additional sack out in 2 weeks’ time.
More information on missed collections: www.stroud.gov.uk/environment/bins-rubbish-and-recycling/bins-and-recycling-containers/report-a-missed-bin-collection
For updates on Storm Eunice, please visit www.stroud.gov.uk and our social media channels:
www.facebook.com/strouddistrictcouncil
www.instagram.com/strouddistrictcouncil
Get the latest council news, events and service updates straight to your inbox. Sign up for email alerts: www.stroud.gov.uk/email-alerts