Cornwall residents left feeling isolated after Storm Goretti brings down thousands of power, phone and broadband lines.
The tiny settlement of Cucurrian in western Cornwall was cut off from the outside world for days after Storm Goretti brought down thousands of power, phone and broadband lines. Mark Pugh, an audiobook producer who lives there, said he had to spend hours trying to find a mobile signal good enough to work from his car.
"This storm has shown that Cornwall isn't resilient enough," Mr Pugh said. "A lot is promised, but not enough is delivered." The storm also killed 50-year-old James Southey when a tree crushed his caravan.
Many hundreds of people were left without power or water, but communication links in some places remain down a fortnight on. Reliable online connections are now needed for everything from health consultations to banking, making life very difficult for those affected.
The situation is not just limited to remote communities like Cucurrian. Karen Bennett, 72, who lives near Penzance town centre, had her broadband cut off when a pine tree brought down a pole, cutting off her internet connection. A new pole has been put up but the broadband hasn't returned yet.
The loss of power and ongoing communications issues have made many Cornish people question whether the rest of the UK cares enough about the far-west of Britain, especially during holidays and second-home visits.
Loveday Jenkin, a leading member of the Mebyon Kernow party, which campaigns for greater self-government for Cornwall, said the storm exposed weaknesses in Cornwall's infrastructure.
"Cornwall should have more devolved resilience money," Ms Jenkin said. "People want to treat Cornwall as a holiday playground. They need to recognise that there are people on the ground who have to manage it but don't have the money."
The UK government has indicated that it will explore a bespoke devolution deal for Cornwall, possibly giving it more control over transport, housing and economic development.
Openreach, which builds and maintains the UK's largest broadband network, said that Storm Goretti had caused the worst impact on its network in Cornwall in recent memory. However, they rejected the idea that the switch to fibre made the county more vulnerable, arguing that outages were largely due to trees falling on overhead wires or taking down poles.
The tiny settlement of Cucurrian in western Cornwall was cut off from the outside world for days after Storm Goretti brought down thousands of power, phone and broadband lines. Mark Pugh, an audiobook producer who lives there, said he had to spend hours trying to find a mobile signal good enough to work from his car.
"This storm has shown that Cornwall isn't resilient enough," Mr Pugh said. "A lot is promised, but not enough is delivered." The storm also killed 50-year-old James Southey when a tree crushed his caravan.
Many hundreds of people were left without power or water, but communication links in some places remain down a fortnight on. Reliable online connections are now needed for everything from health consultations to banking, making life very difficult for those affected.
The situation is not just limited to remote communities like Cucurrian. Karen Bennett, 72, who lives near Penzance town centre, had her broadband cut off when a pine tree brought down a pole, cutting off her internet connection. A new pole has been put up but the broadband hasn't returned yet.
The loss of power and ongoing communications issues have made many Cornish people question whether the rest of the UK cares enough about the far-west of Britain, especially during holidays and second-home visits.
Loveday Jenkin, a leading member of the Mebyon Kernow party, which campaigns for greater self-government for Cornwall, said the storm exposed weaknesses in Cornwall's infrastructure.
"Cornwall should have more devolved resilience money," Ms Jenkin said. "People want to treat Cornwall as a holiday playground. They need to recognise that there are people on the ground who have to manage it but don't have the money."
The UK government has indicated that it will explore a bespoke devolution deal for Cornwall, possibly giving it more control over transport, housing and economic development.
Openreach, which builds and maintains the UK's largest broadband network, said that Storm Goretti had caused the worst impact on its network in Cornwall in recent memory. However, they rejected the idea that the switch to fibre made the county more vulnerable, arguing that outages were largely due to trees falling on overhead wires or taking down poles.
people in Cornwall are really struggling right now... 
it's like they're stuck in the dark ages or something... 
no internet, no phone signal, can't even get any water... that's just not okay... 
and I feel bad for all those ppl who lost their loved ones in the storm too... 
what's wrong with the UK gov giving cornwall more devolved resilience money? it feels like they're treating us as holiday destinations rather than actual people living here 
And it's not just the residents who are affected, it's also businesses and stuff. I feel bad for Karen Bennett, she must be going crazy waiting for her broadband to come back on 
. I mean, can't we rely on our infrastructure to get through a storm? 
It's not just about Cornwall, either - I've had friends in London who lost power during Storm Jorge last year, and it was chaos! 
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Outages that last for weeks?! That's just unacceptable. And it's not just about them, either. I've got family who loves visiting Cornwall and now they're starting to think twice about going because of all the issues 
. We need better communication (no pun intended) from our government about how we're preparing for these kinds of situations 
People are stuck without power, water, or even reliable internet for weeks now 
And it's not just the residents who are affected, the whole region suffers when communication links go down, making everything from healthcare to banking super challenging 
It's like they're trying to treat Cornwall as a holiday playground without considering the real people living there 
Like, what if they had some kind of emergency fund or something? That way, when a storm hits, they wouldn't have to worry about everything grinding to a halt 