Accessed by a steep, winding lane, the tiny settlement of Cucurrian in the far-west of Cornwall feels remote at the best of times. But over the last two weeks, the people who live here have felt even more isolated after they were left without a way of communicating with the outside world as a result of Storm Goretti.
“I think people feel let down, angry, failed,” said Mark Pugh, an audiobook producer, who has spent more hours than he would care to tot up carefully picking his way out of Cucurrian and sitting in his car in a layby to find a mobile signal good enough to work from. “This storm has shown that Cornwall isn’t resilient enough. A lot is promised, but not enough is delivered.”
Goretti brought down thousands of power, phone and broadband lines and caused countless trees to fall, including one that crushed the caravan of 50-year-old James Southey and killed him.
For days, many hundreds of people were left without power, water or both, but while those services have been restored, communication links in some places remain down a fortnight on.
Continue Reading on The Guardian
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.