Response to storm Arwen vs Eunice

[ArwenVsEunice]

Curious to hear other peoples POV. Does anyone feel let down by the government’s response to storm Eunice versus storm Arwen, both with rare red warning storms?

For Eunice the Government have held an emergency cobra meeting, thousands of schools have been closed and there’s huge national media coverage. I think this absolutely is the right thing to do.

When Arwen was brewing there was no cobra meeting, just general advice to be careful from the Met Office. it was in the media but only to a very small extent www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-59419772. We live in the areas affected by Arwen and it was pretty terrifying when it hit. It took out trees and roofs local to where we live, at PIL it blew down their garden wall and fencing and left a 6ft hole. It knocked out power to nearly 250,000 homes. It took at least 5 days to get the army in to help those still cut off. I’ve not seen anything like it in my lifetime.

The optimistic part of me likes to think the government learnt from Arwen and have now pulled their socks up to deal with Eunice the way they should have done but the cynical part of me just feels like they weren’t bothered about Arwen as it was up in Scotland and the North East

AIBU to feel this way?

YANBU - it’s yet another example of the government not caring unless its a problem that affects the south/London

YABU - the government didn’t recognise the severity of Arwen and have learnt from their mistakes with Eunice

You’re completely right OP. It’s the same when there’s snow in London or floods down south it’s all over the national news. Up north just makes local news 🤷‍♀️

@MorningStarling what an idiotic comment. It's not about dividing - it's about being treated fairly. Just asking for the same level of concern and response.

And it's absolute fucking bollocks to say we are "better prepared" - the results of Arwen then followed by Malik and Corrie doing further damage showed there was no preparation and no, things are NOT "built better" cos there's no fucking money or investment from councils.

Just two pictures of the damage caused by storm arwen in the North east. The area was definately under red warning.

Well to be fair, there's people in the south who think that we don't even have electricity to get cut off in the first place in the north. Can you imagine the wall to wall coverage that we'll get if someone in the south loses their electricity for 4 hours, let alone 4 days. YANBU.

I live near an area renowned for serious flooding that barely gets a mention but the news later today will be all of the 'tree blows over in Hyde Park' variety and footage of planes coming into Heathrow sideways or someone who couldn't make a business meeting in Paris because their flight from Luton was cancelled.

Anyone remember the big storm in 2016 when windspeeds hit 144mph in Scotland? Thought not. While I think it's true that houses in northern Scotland are designed to cope with a 'big wind' as we call them that's not true in the NE of England. My Dad was genuinely horrified at the construction of our house in NE England and told me 'but you'll lose all your slates when it's windy'. We lived there 15 years and never lost a slate due to the wind. Also trees make a big wind more dangerous, this is not an issue in the north of Scotland.

@MorningStarling

It's less of a concern if a red storm hits the north of England or Scotland because these areas are better-equipped to cope with it. These areas traditionally see more storms and higher winds than the south or Wales, so buildings are designed to withstand this and coastal defences are built stronger.

If a red storm hits areas where structures and defences are weaker, it requires a stronger response from the government.

I also think part of it is down to population. Scotland has 5.4 million people, southern England has 28 million. Clearly the threat is more severe where the population is higher, even if the effects of the storms were the same.

It's sadly predictable though that those who seek to divide the country use natural disasters as a means to spread their propaganda.

this Do people really believe the difference in reaction it is because the government just thinks people who live in the south east are worth more than those in the North and North East.? It is more about logistics and the number of people affected. I know that is pretty shit for those badly affected by Arwen and it is a disgrace that more help wasn't offered but it is purely a numbers game by the government. It is not about who is worth more.

The south East is both far far more populated and less used to very high winds and storm so structures and buildings and coastal defences are less prepared

We will have to change this though as I think we will be getting more and more strong storms as climate changes continues and the South East is going to have to get used to them I think

It's less of a concern if a red storm hits the north of England or Scotland because these areas are better-equipped to cope with it. These areas traditionally see more storms and higher winds than the south or Wales, so buildings are designed to withstand this and coastal defences are built stronger.

If a red storm hits areas where structures and defences are weaker, it requires a stronger response from the government.

I also think part of it is down to population. Scotland has 5.4 million people, southern England has 28 million. Clearly the threat is more severe where the population is higher, even if the effects of the storms were the same.

It's sadly predictable though that those who seek to divide the country use natural disasters as a means to spread their propaganda.

Tell me you're from the South without telling me you're from the South.

(PS: approximately 14.5 million people live in the North East, the North West, and Yorkshire and Humber. Coupled with the population of Scotland that's over 20 million, I haven't included NI and Northern parts of Wales who were also affected but kets not pretebd it was just a few sheep and half a dozen farmed who were impacted. Northern Lives Matter).

I'm in London and I haven't even read up on the storm.

Maybe the government have to be firmer in the South as we are too nonchalant about storms due to the rarity.

@DementedPanda

It's the same when snow hits... 4ft in the North east? Get ya spades oot! 1cm in London and its a disaster 🤣

😂 this!! Makes me laugh how the whole of London comes to a stand still with a sprinkling of snow, yet we get proper snowed in and we just get on with it.

It's like two completely different worlds apart.

Yabu everyone wants a drama these days and needs the government to explain that 100mph are dangerous

I dont think the media reporting on things is the same as an effective government response.

Can’t believe the over reaction just because the South East is going to be windy.

The North really hates the South

@Mumofsend

The North really hates the South

We don't hate the South. We're just tired of being forgotten about like we don't exist or matter.

@OneTiredMam I think what a lot of people in the North don't realise is that HUGE parts of the south are also largely ignored because they aren't the south east. West Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset are all treated much the same.

We don't hate the South, we'd just like to be given the same amount of consideration and some funding.

YANBU, this is absolutely a thing, some of our communities up here in the North East were absolutely devastated by Arwen. It remains to be seen what happens in the aftermath of Eunice but I’d be surprised if anyone is left without power for 10 days like some were up here. I hope everyone stays safe today.

We carry spades in our car, snow tracks and blankets (if its really bad a big coat). We understand the importance of snow tyres over 4x4 cars with shit tyres (useless BTW).

I understand the population density and difference of these red zones for Eunice but to say it affects those sections of the country more is utter rubbish.

The news pictures of the rough seas. It's a standard day out on North East Coast in Feb isn't it 😁. People going to work dressed for the weather (you'll find wellies or snow/walking boots in the majority of work places today).

We have snow and 50mph winds already here. No mention of that on the tv!

@MorningStarling

Your post made me chuckle. I'm definitely not trying to divide the country with any propaganda. I've friends and family in both the north and the south and care about them all.

My point is that there is a lot of planning and support being put in place for those going to be hit by Eunice, it feels to me it is much more than what was put in place for those who were hit by Arwen and I don't understand why. Both are extremely rare red warning storms. I do take on other peoples points about the high tides at the moment and the extra worry there is about coastal areas though.

I'm not saying I think those who will be affected by Eunice shouldn't receive this help but I absolutely think those in the path of Arwen should have had it at the same level and it didn't feel like we did. I'm not expecting the same amount of money and resources to be spent/used as your are right there is a bigger population going to be impacted by Eunice, but there should have been a proportionate response.

"It's less of a concern if a red storm hits the north of England or Scotland because these areas are better-equipped to cope with it. These areas traditionally see more storms and higher winds than the south or Wales, so buildings are designed to withstand this and coastal defences are built stronger."

I've no idea why you think that the North East of England and Scotland are better equipped to cope with these types of storms. I can assure you from first hand experience we definitely are not! The houses where I live had trees smashed through their roofs and windows, ridge tiles smashed off onto the street and onto cars, walls crashed down, huge trees uprooted and we weren't even hit as bad as some areas further north. The next lot of storms have pulled down even more trees and roofing as they've all been loosened by Arwen.

I don't agree with your thoughts about the population levels being a reason. Yes there will be more numbers of people affected by Eunice than Arwen, but with them both being rare red storms the physical risk to people is still the same, whether a house falls down on 1 person instead of 10 or power goes off for 250,000 as opposed to 20 million, there are still real people impacted and we all deserve equal care.

With regards to your comments, could you have been have been exposed to some propaganda yourself and not realised it? I'm not sure I've met many people up my way that are actively using natural disasters as a way to divide the country. Most people just want to be treated as though they matter and quite often it can feel as though we don't.

@Mumofsend

The North really hates the South

Nope, don't hate, but definitely feel forgotten and isolated by our government and media.

Completely agree with you OP. Everytime it affects the south, boy do we know!

@ArwenVsEunice

Curious to hear other peoples POV. Does anyone feel let down by the government’s response to storm Eunice versus storm Arwen, both with rare red warning storms?

For Eunice the Government have held an emergency cobra meeting, thousands of schools have been closed and there’s huge national media coverage. I think this absolutely is the right thing to do.

When Arwen was brewing there was no cobra meeting, just general advice to be careful from the Met Office. it was in the media but only to a very small extent www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-59419772. We live in the areas affected by Arwen and it was pretty terrifying when it hit. It took out trees and roofs local to where we live, at PIL it blew down their garden wall and fencing and left a 6ft hole. It knocked out power to nearly 250,000 homes. It took at least 5 days to get the army in to help those still cut off. I’ve not seen anything like it in my lifetime.

The optimistic part of me likes to think the government learnt from Arwen and have now pulled their socks up to deal with Eunice the way they should have done but the cynical part of me just feels like they weren’t bothered about Arwen as it was up in Scotland and the North East

AIBU to feel this way?

YANBU - it’s yet another example of the government not caring unless its a problem that affects the south/London

YABU - the government didn’t recognise the severity of Arwen and have learnt from their mistakes with Eunice

Tbh I agree that there's a disparity, but I feel givne that Scotland has its own parliament etc and always wanting to prove how effective they are surely this was a matter for them not the London English lot? To me it seems as though Scotland especially wants the best of everything...

@choicemummy and those in the 200 miles north of Manchester and Leeds that is still England?! Once again there is huge swaths of the North that are simply forgotten and have a population of millions

It did say Eunice is the worst for 30 years, so maybe thats why its taken more seriously? also maybe learned a lesson from the Arwen one.

I do agree basically though, if it happens in the south its taken more seriously

Good grief. I am in Scotland and I cannot believe the nonsense and paranoia on this thread. We got wall to wall coverage of Arwen and the other one (Corrie?) in the media and it did us bog-all good, 2 x 2 day powercuts and no bloody leadership from ScotGov whatsoever, in fact they were invisible apart from a bit of standard issue hand wringing on the telly. I will credit the electricity companies though, they worked bloody hard to fix everything as fast as they could, including drafting in resources from Down South and provided lots of info once we actually had working phones!