Somerset Council’s highways crews have worked round the clock to clear roads after hundreds of trees and more than 20 power cables were downed during the county’s second storm event in two weeks.
Teams from the Council’s contractor Kier were out in winds of nearly 90 mph during a rare Met Office Red Warning, combined with Amber and Yellow Warnings across the weekend as Storm Darragh swept through the county from the early hours of Saturday into Sunday.
A Red Warning is the highest level of alert and means there is possible danger to life and wind speeds reached 89 mph in Exmoor and 72 mph in Yeovil
Teams dealt with nearly 700 reports of incidents on the road and more than 400 fallen trees during and after Storm Darragh, which hit just two weeks after Storm Bert .
Throughout Saturday, Sunday and today (Monday), six chainsaw gangs were busy removing hundreds of trees which had been blown across roads, including the A367 near Stratton-on-the-Fosse where a team worked for several hours on Saturday to reopen the road.
Power cables also fell across many roads – by Saturday afternoon more than 13,000 households in Somerset were without power.
Somerset Council’s Adult Social Care team has been liaising with power companies to identify vulnerable residents and ensure power is returned as soon as possible
Other key roads affected by fallen trees:
• A378 Fivehead, Taunton
• Station Road, Shapwick (four trees)
• A37 Kilver Street, Shepton Mallet (tree/power lines)
• A357 Templecombe (all closed or partially closed at time of issuing)
• B3223 Exford to Simonsbath road (open).
In Bridgwater, part of the roof on a block of flats at Westfield Close was damaged, causing debris to block Albert Street. A team from Homes in Sedgemoor which manages the building has been supporting residents.
In Chard, Boden Street had to be closed because of damage to the Mill, a Somerset Council-owned building.
Meanwhile people in coastal areas were warned to stay away from the sea front as large waves battered the shoreline and sand was blown in great drifts on to Warren Road in Minehead
Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Waste, Councillor Richard Wilkins, said: “We’re incredibly grateful for the efforts of our contractor Kier in working round the clock to keep the County moving – these were really challenging conditions, a Red Weather warning is the most extreme alert.
“We know Council and partner agency teams have been working hard to support our more vulnerable residents who have been without power or who have suffered damage to their homes.
“Thankfully many appear to have heeded the warnings and stayed at home during the height of the storm and we also saw communities coming together to help the most vulnerable and affected.
There may well be smaller roads across the county which are which are still blocked by fallen trees – please travel carefully, especially after dark and bear with us, the service is working extremely hard to get these cleared.”PIC-SOMERSET COUNCIL
