National Emergency response needed following continuing Storm Goretti crisis 

The MP for West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (St Ives) Andrew George called on the PM and senior ministers for additional support to manage the continuing risks to vulnerable people affected by Storm Goretti. He wrote to the Prime Minister yesterday.  

Nursing home patients have had to be evacuated when a roof blew off and power and water supplies failed. Tens of thousands of residents remain without water – and it will be many days before supplies can be restored. 23,000 homes are still to have power restored and for some it will be many days, as power lines still lie across roads. Water supply stations are still being set up, not only for those residents who can drive to them to collect, but also for farms which need 20 gallons a day per head of cattle.  

Andrew said, “Though the frontline operators are all working heroically to restore services and to support the most vulnerable, it’s clear to me they’ve been overwhelmed. It doesn’t help if power and water suppliers feel obliged to present an “everything is under control – so don’t worry” coping message, but that’s not the impression I get when out talking to those affected. I’ve conveyed many pleas for help from 20+ communities still desperate for help, but those are only the ones with a means of communication. Worryingly, I’ve not heard from many others which are bound to have been affected, down on the Lizard and across the Penwith peninsula. 

“The village of Mawgan has been in shock and sadness at the news of a local man who was discovered dead in his caravan on Friday. It had been crushed by a falling tree during Thursday’s storm. And it’s simply not been possible to check on the welfare of everyone who lives in the many isolated homes throughout west Cornwall.”