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

@Silversprinkles

And yes AGAIN for those hard of thinking, Storm Arwen was a red warning.

Sad to say this needs placing at the top of the OP and repeating frequently.

People were killed during Arwen, the government and those providing emergency services and essential services response was piss poor, this time they are trying to be reactive but time will tell if it’s enough.

@FourTeaFallOut

Getting a bit breezy in the North East - I'm just activating my home's special built-in wind defenses now - anyone else?

Unfortunately I think my sister's just failed (city centre also north east), a good chunk of the outer plasterwork of the opposite apartment block just fell off. Might make it onto Look North later if they're fast! She's on the outer limits of the amber warning and about 15 miles south of me.

Btw I don't agree with the poster saying they had no sympathy for those experiencing storm Eunice unless they experience what was the experience of some people up here after Arwen. The whole point is no one should have that experience. I have sympathy for anyone who is affected by this storm in the short term (short power cut, damaged fencing etc) or longer term. It's not an enjoyable experience for anyone however the response to this type of storm should be the same across the country. The risk to life is still the same except in rural areas (I've made this distinction since page 1) are disproportionately elderly who are generally at greater risk than younger people.

@Hospedia

I think they didn't give a shit because it was in the North of England and Scotland, the same as the Cumbria floods several years ago.

Agreed 100%

@ontana Honestly the ignorance on this thread

Look in the mirror

@MajorCarolDanvers are you saying that Arwen wasn't a red warning? That three people didn't die and thousands left without any power for days?

If it didn't happen in London, it didn't happen.

[quote SliceOfCakeCupOfTea]@MajorCarolDanvers are you saying that Arwen wasn't a red warning? That three people didn't die and thousands left without any power for days?[/quote]
No those are all words that you've written.

I know, seeings how I wrote it.

I'm wondering why you're calling other posters ignorant when you didn't realise arwen was a red storm

@MajorCarolDanvers in what way am I ignorant?

You said this storm is more serious than storm Arwen because it has a red warning. Lots of people have posted out that Arwen also had a red warning.

Do you know what the word ignorant means?

@FourTeaFallOut

Getting a bit breezy in the North East - I'm just activating my home's special built-in wind defenses now - anyone else?

No need - the superior 5m thick walls that all Geordie houses are made of will keep me safe anyway... apparently.

3% of the population live in NE and 35% in SE/SW so the level of alert is bound to be heightened in a densely populated urban area

Yes, Arwen hit hard and is so Eunice. I didnt really know about the severity of arwen until afterwards. Eunice has been talked about for days and days.

Arwen hit North, Eunice hit South. Tale as old as time...

@mrsbyers

3% of the population live in NE and 35% in SE/SW so the level of alert is bound to be heightened in a densely populated urban area

That's all very well and good, but if the storms up here are (seemingly) not/low news worthy in the south, why is it all we're seeing/hearing up here?

YANBU OP. Yesterday I had R4 on driving home and they were talking about how incredibly rare it is to have a red weather warning, weather like this not seen for years, and I was thinking... what? We just HAD a red warning storm a few weeks ago. C. 8 million trees down on our local estate - the devastation is still very visible and deeply upsetting.

And, yes, lives were lost, and I believe that more would have been if not for the actions of community groups, neighbours like the pp who handed out candles, neighbours like my friend who took thermoses of hot water and hot food round to all the elderly on her street (we were lucky not to lose power for long).

Hospedia

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

Perhaos when the North contributes even close to what the South does then, there will be more of an equal footing.
As far as I can see, the North has certainly, in my lifetime of 5 decades been subsidised by the South. This is in terms of raising the least revenue for the country as a whole, draining the country of the most money in benefits, the poorer educational outcomes cannot be explained by being the fault of the educational system can they, parents need to take responsibility. There are plenty of children in poverty in the South managing to achieve in incredibly difficult situations. Likewise generations of unemployed in the North who have no intention of ever working, yet we're all aware of the cheaper cost of living in the North and North East the fact that minimum wage for example would buy more than in the south.
If there was a difference in response, probably the south does need prioritising given the contribution it is making to keep the country going.

@ChoiceMummy

Hospedia

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

Perhaos when the North contributes even close to what the South does then, there will be more of an equal footing.
As far as I can see, the North has certainly, in my lifetime of 5 decades been subsidised by the South. This is in terms of raising the least revenue for the country as a whole, draining the country of the most money in benefits, the poorer educational outcomes cannot be explained by being the fault of the educational system can they, parents need to take responsibility. There are plenty of children in poverty in the South managing to achieve in incredibly difficult situations. Likewise generations of unemployed in the North who have no intention of ever working, yet we're all aware of the cheaper cost of living in the North and North East the fact that minimum wage for example would buy more than in the south.
If there was a difference in response, probably the south does need prioritising given the contribution it is making to keep the country going.

As far as I can see, the North has certainly, in my lifetime of 5 decades been subsidised by the South. This is in terms of raising the least revenue for the country as a whole, draining the country of the most money in benefits, the poorer educational outcomes cannot be explained by being the fault of the educational system can they, parents need to take responsibility.

Fucking hell and apparently we’re the ones who “hate” the south. Yeah, that’s why the north is a lower contributor to the national GDP, because we’re all just shit.

@ChoiceMummy

You are so right. London should become an independent country, like the Vatican.

Then the rest of the bastards would be sorry.

[quote JayAlfredPrufrock]@ChoiceMummy

You are so right. London should become an independent country, like the Vatican.

Then the rest of the bastards would be sorry.[/quote]
Well we wouldn’t, because unless you could keep hold of all the rich foreign investors and the financial industry which massively skews the statistics, you’d be just as fucked as the rest of us and realise it’s not because Londoners are superior beings after all.

@ontana you are very rude.

I’ve always wanted an irony emoji.

2 people died during storm Corrie which was very severe locally with wind speeds over 90mph and huge numbers of trees down and people with no power etc. I don’t know why it wasn’t classed as red as well tbh. I’m in north east scotland within the red area during storm Arwen but Corrie was much, much worse here.
It was an absolute disgrace that it took 6 days to get the army out to help with the Arwen aftermath, esp when so many people were without power, water and phones for over a week (some were off for 2!) in extremely cold temperatures (often below freezing during the following week)

There’s places close to me with 30cm of snow which has fallen today, can you imagine that down south?

This is interesting

@JayAlfredPrufrock

I’ve always wanted an irony emoji.

Sorry, maybe I need a whoosh one