Storm St Jude struck the Kent coast on Monday morning, as predicted by the Met Office with a force of over 70 mph. It was thankfully not as strong as the great storm of 1987, but the expectation and preparation for its arrival were much better. In 1987 there was famously no notice, but with today's satellite technology the Met Office was able to give us several days notice of its arrival and predict accurately when and where if would strike. Thankfully no lives were lost in our area but there were sadly fatalities elsewhere in Kent and in other parts of the south of England. The storm also brought considerable disruption to road and rail services, damage to property and the uprooting of hundreds to trees.
I would like to thank everyone who worked so hard on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to inform the public, keep us safe and help get things moving again once the storm had passed. Local newspapers and radio stations helped to increase awareness of the approaching storm and its impact. The Kent Highways team were at work early on Monday morning helping to clear fallen trees. A tree which had fallen blocking Park Farm road in Folkestone had been cleared, for example, by 7.30am. Kent Highways and Kent Police used online social media to keep road users informed throughout the morning on areas affected by storm damage. On the trains, Southeastern had the first high speed services operating into London before 8am; another illustration of High Speed One’s status as the most efficient rail service in the country. For the commuter train services into London Charing Cross and Victoria the rail companies took the difficult but correct decision to inform customers in advance not to expect services before 9am. Fallen trees and storm debris on the tracks did close these lines in the morning as predicted.
At Dungeness power station, the storm had damaged the roof of one of the buildings away from the main reactors, and the debris had affected some of the power cables that connect the station to the national grid. I spoke with Martin Pearson, the Station Director of Dungeness B on Monday morning and he was able to assure me that there were no safety issues resulting from this damage, and that the power stations would shortly be operating as normal. Martin predicted that the reactors would be running again within 24 hours, but in fact thanks to the work of the team from the power station and the National Grid, Dungeness B was back supplying power on the same day.
The disruptions that come from major storms are always unwelcome, but are thankfully reasonably rare. This year we were probably better prepared than ever before.
Last week I met with Michael Simmonds at Delfinware Household Products in the Pennypot Estate in Hythe. This successful local manufacturing business is part of the Wire and Plastic Products firm, which also gives its name to the world’s largest media and communications business, WPP plc, headed by Sir Martin Sorrell. Wire and Plastic Products was Sir Martin’s first acquisition as he built his global media empire, and the Delfinware business in Hythe is still an integral part of the group, supplying its products to national retailers like John Lewis and TK Max.