I am feeling a bit jaded after it took me two hours to get into work this morning and an interminable bus ride back as the TRAINS STILL AREN'T RUNNING, but I really wanted to answer some of the 'what storm?' sneerers from earlier today.
- Maybe it was 'a bit breezy' where you are, but in SW London this morning the trees were bent double from 3am-7.30am. And we weren't the worst hit.
- Maybe you think that it wouldn't have been reported if it had been further north, but I distinctly remember considerable national news coverage of the floods 'oop north' last year, including Hebden Bridge, which is a teeny town, compared to tens of millions affected in the south east and west today.
- Maybe you 'just get on with it' when weather is bad near you, but when there are 30 trees across the line you usually get into work on, things are going to have to change a bit. Oh, and one of my employers offices lost its roof overnight in central london. Would you go in?
- Maybe you think people were 'panicking' when people talked about preparing for a power cut, but 100,000s were left without power and still are.
- Maybe you get this kind of weather every other week, but I haven't seen anything as bad since the 2007 storm myself.
Lots of people are injured, and some people lost their lives, and I just found these comments really baffling and insensitive.
Disclaimer: I am still quite cross that the Manchester-based deaths in the 2007 storms didn't get as much coverage as a death in the south.