Businesses recounts devastating effects of Storm Goretti
Businesses across Cornwall recount the havoc caused by Storm Goretti and what they’re doing to deal with the damage left in its wake.
At the start of January Storm Goretti ripped through the British Isles, bringing with it an onslaught of heavy snowfall, strong winds and significant rainfall. The impact of what the Met Office is calling a multi-hazard event was felt most acutely throughout the southwest, Wales, the Midlands, and parts of northern England.
The aftermath of the storm saw many businesses in and around the area’s most badly effected left without power, damaged stock, and a great many trees in need of clearing after being brought down by the high winds.
“The result of this storm was close to annihilation,” reveals Mark Lea, owner of Primal Plants nursery.
Based in Townshend, Cornwall, Lea, his family and his business are based in the next town over from St Ives where wind gusts reached up to 111mph. As a result, Lea details that whilst he had a structurally engineered wind break in place, the tunnels could not survive the storm. From bent frames, torn plastic coverings and posts that have been torn out of the ground, “it’s just come out as a financial loss to the business,” he says.
As a nursery that supplies to garden designers competing in horticulture shows, the impact of the storm has left Lea worried, saying: “they’re going to get marked for not looking their best”, which as a result could set the nursery back in terms of sales until as far as next season, further adding to his worries.
After absorbing the impact of Storm Goretti into his business, Lea admits that he wanted to throw in the towel. “They wouldn’t let me,” he says in reference to his team that encouraged him to keep going. “They all said, ‘no, there is nothing you can do, and we will believe in you.’ They wanted to just keep going. So, I didn’t put any more thought into it as I didn’t want to let the team down because it’s a brand that I created and really believe in.”
With most houses left without power or water, and the streets adorned with fallen trees swept over by the wind, many landscaping and arborist businesses were committed to remaining open amidst the dangers of the storm to offer aid in the cleanup.
Tom Preddy from Newquay-based tree surgeons T P Tree Services offers his perspective: “It’s a mess down here. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Dealing with surrounding commercial and private jobs, Preddy and his team were working 15-hour days after the storm hit.
From clearing roads, driveways and working on removing a fallen tree upon a rooftop, “I don’t think we’ll see the end of this for a long time. People will probably hang around until the main bulk of jobs are finished”, Preddy predicts.
“You have got to feel bad that is happening just after Christmas. Not many people have got the money after Christmas, and this happens.” Determined to help those affected, Preddy and his team are continuing to work hard across the area.
Across the way in Saint Austell, contracts manager David Bird from Mid Cornwall Landscaping also describes the storm’s influence on the company: “It has really slowed us down when trying to get to site. On site, we’ve had some trees fall down, too.” With road closures and stock damages; landscaping projects have seen an impact, too.
Reeking further devastation, Goretti was also responsible for the collapse of nearly 100 trees at St Michael’s Mount. The historic tidal island in Mount’s Bay near Penzance, hosts a historic castle and garden terraces looked after by the National Trust. Head gardener Darren Little reveals, “we’ve almost stopped counting now because there’s trees under trees – the domino effect – so we don’t know”.
Trewithen Gardens, an estate and garden site located near Grampound Road, has also suffered from the wrath of Goretti. Trewithen, meaning house of the trees, saw a quarter of its large mature trees felled, some of which were 250 years old.
Garden design and landscaping company Muddy Wellies Gardens which is located down in Falmouth, where the storm also cut through towns and villages. “We’ve had to prioritise clients who have needed work to free up access,” explains director Helen Fresson.
During a quieter time of year for the company, Fresson says the team have still been cautious when travelling to site as clients request new fences after immense wind speeds.
Horticultural charity Perennial aims to help people across the industry in the face of challenges. Since the storm, the charity urges those suffering to reach out:
“At Perennial, we see first-hand how events like this effect people working in horticulture, not just physically, but emotionally too. Supporting those professionals, whatever challenges they face, is at the heart of what we do.”
The charity understands the personal impacts to gardeners, and the urgent and complex work of a tree surgeon in the days that follow a storm of this magnitude. Perennial’s services can be accessed via online or phone.
While the wind has settled and Goretti has passed, the Met Office is warning that more storms of this calibre could be on the horizon as the climate continues to change, prompting the question, what protective measures can be put in place to protect not just our streets and green spaces, but businesses too?
