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

Arwen was a red alert and just as severe, if not more so than Eunice

Not according to the forecasters who are expecting Eunice to be the worst storm to hit the UK in three decades.

@Wnkingawalrus
I do get the points your making to an extent, it could be that Eunice is the worst storm in the UK in 3 decades and worse than Arwen, but if Eunice does turn out to be worse, it doesn't change the fact that Arwen was a really severe red graded storm.

Overall I do hope that lessons are learnt and that there is better prep for severe storms. For example if the power goes out for prolonged periods there's a contingency plan for the army to give support.

I just felt that Arwen wasn't really taken seriously by the government and there seems to be so much discussion about Eunice. To reiterate I think it's right that Eunice is taken seriously and I sincerely hope that they step in to help anyone without power/emergency accommodation etc once it's over but I just feel really strongly that this should have also happened with Arwen and I don't get the sense that it did

@CharacterForming

Its absolute bollocks that the buildings and trees in the north of England are better designed/developed than the south. If anything we have older housing stock that has received less investment and greater poverty.

Just laughable that you and a couple of other posters think that.

Tens of thousands of trees were lost in Kielder alone under Arwen.

This is why many northerners would prefer to be part of Scotland.

I gave my 87 year old neighbour candles and a lamp as he had been sleeping in a chair in his living room and had run out of candles. If I hadn't checked on him he would have been in the dark for days.

@feellikeanalien

It would have in all likelihood been worse than that. If you hadn't checked on him, he may have died in that armchair

Thank you for caring about him.

I think Eunice is expected to be the worst storm in the south for 30 years is it not rather than for the entire uk. Up here we do have storms with those strength winds at least once a year if not more. Things are fixed down better as a result. I imagine with denser population as with the south that risk is increased too. I do think that Arwen and the unexpected extent of the damage and disruption has probably made them take even more notice this time round. Lessons have been learned

YANBU. And I live in the South East area currently under a red warning. The North are just expected to put up with it. As soon as London and the SE are affected all hell breaks loose in government.

@Willyoujustbequiet

We lost many too near Edzell.

news.stv.tv/north/unrecognisable-entire-forest-flattened-by-storms-malik-and-corrie

The drone footage on that article is sobering

I’ve just had my head bitten off on another thread before pointing this out!

I can honestly say I have never heard anything like Storm Arwen, it howled unlike any kind of wind or storm I’ve ever heard. Thank God it happened in the night as I’m sure there would have been fatalities. We didn’t have any power for 24 hours because a tree took out power lines nearby, and we were the lucky ones. People down the road didn’t have any power for days.

It's interesting that things are built and structured to better withstand storms in Scotland (and North England?)

Can anyone link me to information about that? I'd like to read up on it a little.

yeah, I'm kind of amused / bemused by how much has been made of this, we've had amber and red warnings more times that I can count up here recently! My friends are now without power for the 4th time since storm arwen when they didn't get it back on for several days. They've also had 20cm of snow today, imagine if that fell in London!!

@HufflepuffPride

I’ve just had my head bitten off on another thread before pointing this out!

I can honestly say I have never heard anything like Storm Arwen, it howled unlike any kind of wind or storm I’ve ever heard. Thank God it happened in the night as I’m sure there would have been fatalities. We didn’t have any power for 24 hours because a tree took out power lines nearby, and we were the lucky ones. People down the road didn’t have any power for days.

You had your ‘head bitten off’ because you were mocking people in ‘the south’ for being OTT and as you see it, overdratic. People are being injured, livelihoods and homes are being wrecked. You bleating on about a north-south divide is pathetic.

@HufflepuffPride

Sadly there were three fatalities caused by Arwen

@HufflepuffPride

I’ve just had my head bitten off on another thread before pointing this out!

I can honestly say I have never heard anything like Storm Arwen, it howled unlike any kind of wind or storm I’ve ever heard. Thank God it happened in the night as I’m sure there would have been fatalities. We didn’t have any power for 24 hours because a tree took out power lines nearby, and we were the lucky ones. People down the road didn’t have any power for days.

You've been called out for making it a North/South divide and taking the piss out of people who are experiencing the storm, with buildings/cars damaged and animals/people hurt.

"You bleating on about a north-south divide is pathetic."

Be careful please - many of us live with the reality of that divide. While I agree the wording of some statements is poor, it comes from a place of deep frustration.

I actually wanted to say something I've thought a few times to try and show a bit of balance so I'm not coming across as woe is us up in the north east.

Sounds a bit off topic but just as an example, whenever a new business proposes something a bit controversial for example the whey eye on Newcastle quayside. (have a Google if you're bored) The developers always say something about how it will bring much needed jobs to the region. And the councils often okay it on this basis.

I dislike hearing this because it's almost as though there is a view that we are desperate in the north east for jobs and regeneration and so will accept any old shite because it will benefit us economically and that trumps everything

There are a lot of deprived areas up where I live and a lot of people in poverty who need support. But there are a lot other areas that aren't.

I'm not too good with words but the convoluted point I'm trying to make is that I disagree with some of the comments where people have implied that those of us in the north east have massive chips on our shoulders or hate the south.

I actually love living up here and I've got a lot of love for other parts of the country too. I just wanted to get across that we don't all sit here thinking that we get nothing up north and the south get everything. That's too black and white a thought process. I do however quite often feel that the north east gets overlooked and I felt that way with Arwen

@outdooryone

"You bleating on about a north-south divide is pathetic."

Be careful please - many of us live with the reality of that divide. While I agree the wording of some statements is poor, it comes from a place of deep frustration.

Tell that to that poster, then. That’s exactly what they were doing and said. Their posts read that because it was hitting people in ‘the south’, they were being overly dramatic. Really not on. People are getting badly hurt.

I mean, this thread is a great example of people forgetting about the North.

Several people either didn't realise that the North of England was even affected by a devastating storm. The whole country is fully aware of this current one.

The fact that the country's key decision makers are based in London means that often the country only appears to react to things on a Southern-scale. So if something happened up here, it would be a shame, if the same thing happens down there, it's a tragedy and we all have to hear about it for days on end.

I love the places daaannn saaaafff that I've visited. I've got some wonderful friends and family down there. I adore the West End and feel that it should be protected at all costs so I am certainly no Southern-hating Northerner. But it would be nice if we were thought of as important as the South.

We say this about nearly every group of people out there but it still applies here. If someone is telling you there is a problem, don't disregard it because you yourself haven't experienced it.

We in the North are saying we see problems with the Londoncentric England we live in. Don't tell us we're wrong because you (Southerners) haven't noticed it.

Looks like I’ve been stalked onto this thread as well then…

My posts were response to those who were piling on to and attacking posters who were simply pointing out that it wasn’t that bad by them. God forbid other people should be having a different experience to you. Where I live we have high winds and trees come down fairly often. We just get on with it.

[quote Willyoujustbequiet]@CharacterForming

Its absolute bollocks that the buildings and trees in the north of England are better designed/developed than the south. If anything we have older housing stock that has received less investment and greater poverty.

Just laughable that you and a couple of other posters think that.

Tens of thousands of trees were lost in Kielder alone under Arwen.

This is why many northerners would prefer to be part of Scotland.[/quote]
Knot for knot the trees in regions which get frequent strong winds are better at withstanding them than trees in regions which rarely get them. Arwen was unusually devastating to Scottish/Northern English trees not because it was strong, but because it was from the wrong direction - this was of course predictable in advance and the authorities should have done a better job.

Yep. Arwen took away our power for a week but the response was crap. We're in NE Scotland and I really think some of it is down to political divisions.

Storm Eunice is affecting the North east. We had Dudley just on Wednesday too. Now I'm not saying Dudley is as bad as Eunice because it's not but I don't suppose people out of the area are aware how much disruption we have in the North East. Just as many are not aware Storm Arwen didn't just happen in Scotland.

But... the divide is how the government and media respond to these events. The whole country knows about Eunice, I doubt they are aware if the scale of devastation the North East experienced and continues to experience.

I think that's the point many are trying to make.

@SliceOfCakeCupOfTea @DementedPanda

I like your posts, that's what I'm trying to get at xx

London is viewed as more than important than other cities because from an economic standpoint it is. The fiscal surplus generated here funds services in other parts of the country so if London goes down so do a lot of other places.

That is not to say the lives of people who live London are more important than the lives of people who live elsewhere. However it does explain why the media and government seem particularly concerned when the city is under a perceived threat.

I don’t understand the hate and sneering at London tbh. I wouldn’t dream of speaking in derogatory terms about someone’s home town yet if I had a penny for people who have been quick to tell me London is a shithole, the people are awful etc I’d be a millionaire.

Stay safe everyone, wherever you live.

There also the basic spread of the population:over 18m live in London and the SE (one of this morning's Red weather warnings)

There are 8m in Scotland and the NE

So it's affecting over twice as many people, before adding in the extent of the Amber and also the Red area in the SW.

The snow in the north is getting plenty of media coverage (photogenic?)