Red Alert
Well, never expected such an exciting evening on Thursday night. About 4.30pm or so found out there was a red alert out for a storm called Eunice. The marina was in that very area. Better see to any lose items on the roof. Part of an old fire guard used to keep the dog on board, and the metal plank needed to come off. Not much I could do about the top boxes. Wind, sorted. I Learnt it was not just a case of wind, but there was a real danger of the Severn breaching her banks and a storm surge due on Friday morning.
Evacuation
There was an evacuation point at the village hall, residents had been advised to evacuate their homes first thing. There was a real fear for life and limb, it’s a low-lying area flood was a real risk. Real fear the water would come over the fingers, which could capsize boats. Boaters were helping each other to check everyone knew what was happening. Slackening mooring lines, with some lashing to their neighbours to avoid being swept up onto a finger. which has the same effect as being court on the cill of a lock.
My neighbour was away. He has a lot of stuff on the roof, 99% of the time all is well. I had one of his covers in high wind come across my boat on one occasion. So now it’s dark. I’m securing items his roof by torch, and just to be on the safe side, centre lined to his boat. My neighbours on the opposite side of the pontoon, also needed a hand, one is new to boat life and must have found this new threat to their home scary and didn’t really understand how a boat could sink on a mooring! The other a tough old thing whose mobility to clamber over roofs has passed. We banded together to make sure we were as safe as we were going to get.
Friday
Finished getting ready by around 9.30pm, and after a quiet night. Friday came the wind picked up and hunkered down in our individual homes, to wait it out for high tide and the anticipated surge. Messaging each other checking all was well. From inside the wind didn’t feel as strong as expected, nor was it raining heavily, and the water didn’t rise, the breach never happened. By midday tucked up inside if felt like a non-entity. All anticipation and nothing.
Damp Squib
The whole area had got away with it. We were lucky, in the end. Other areas had it much worse, trees fell, roofs gone, this storm had the highest ever recorded gust of 122pmh, the Met Office said this had been the worst storm to hit the UK since the Michael Fish episode of 1987, (and yes! oh boy! do I remember that!!) We may have been lucky here, but people died, had their homes and lively hoods ruined. One must not forget although for me it felt a bit of a damp squib (as I have experienced far worse), for others it was far from a damp squib! The fact that the shower bock has no hot water, due to the effects of the storm does not mean much in the big picture.
Quite frankly storm Franklin which came right in top of Eunice meant more buffeting and a lot more rain!!
