Counting the cost of Storm Eunice as clear up begins

By Susie Watkins

19th Feb 2022 | Local News

The clear up from Storm Eunice which stormed across Frome, along with the rest of Somerset began even as the winds continued to rage.

Somerset Highways reported that its teams were dealing with 167 incidents, 158 of them fallen trees, 5 collapsed walls and four cases where the road was closed due to debris.

Local road closures included Cheddar Road, Chewton Mendip

Green Lane, Stratton-on-Fosse and the road out from Frome towards Warminster. The A38 Rooksbridge was closed both ways due to fallen power cables between Mendip Road and Rooksbridge Road and the M5 was closed northbound close to Burnham on Sea (J23-22) when a high sided vehicle was blown over. Merritt Road in Hinton St George was closed by a fallen tree, but the A39 road to Porlock also closed by early falls re-opened by 3 pm thanks to what Somerset Highways called: " Some speedy clear-up work." Late morning and for the first time both the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge (which people locally still call the new bridge) and the M48 Severn Bridge were closed to all traffic, because of high winds.

There was some anger from drivers who pointed out that the new bridge had been designed for winds up to 80 mph which is why it had replaced the old one which could not withstand those kind of wind speeds.

The Main Road, at Murder Combe is closed until tomorrow at the latest.

Trains and Power

Interruptions to power supplies were reported in pockets across Frome, but again Devon and Cornwall faced the brunt of Storm Eunice. Western Power Distribution said more than 26,000 homes in Cornwall and nearly 36,000 homes in Devon were without power.

On the trains and South Western Railway and Network Rail suspended all their local services.

They posted that:

"Gusts of more than 90mph wind have caused multiple incidents across the SWR network today, with 30 fallen trees already blocking key routes. "As a result, SWR services have been suspended until at least 18.00 and we strongly urge customers not to travel at this time. We are working hard to restore services, but ask customers to make alternative travel plans if they can. "Customers should regularly check the 'Plan my journey' page on SWR's website, which will be updated with the latest information every hour." You can check that out HERE: the SW site "We would like to apologise to our customers for the impact this will have on their journeys, but – as always – our primary concern is the safety and welfare of customers and colleagues out on the network". The other rail company which supplies Frome, GWR is also warning of on-going disruption and is advising passengers to check on their on line service site. You can access that HERE: with disruptions expected into the weekend as post-storm they will clearing lines And a correction : Longleat which "regrettably" took the "difficult decision to close the park" today will be offering full refunds within 14 days to anyone who had a ticket, not the automatic chance to go another day. The Met Office has reported that the worst of the storm has now passed but it will take until 21:00 to ease down in terms of wind speed.

     

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