Storm Eunice Continues to Cause Problems

Photo: Kyle Downing

Storm Eunice has continued to cause problems over the weekend and there is still a yellow warning for wind in place across Oxfordshire until this afternoon.

On Friday Northfield End and the Fairmile homes were without power for 11 hours and parts of Shiplake.  A call out for help with heating and power for Lashbrook Care Home in Shiplake was posted on Facebook with many residents offering help and Southern Plant providing 6 gas heaters. Shiplake College kindly offered residents to come and use their showers, electricity, TVs, power to charge phones etc on Saturday morning.
In addition to the falling roof debris which seriously hurt a women pedestrian on Friday, there was another section of roof on Gladstone Terrace (opposite the Christ Church Centre) which was attended by the fire service and made safe.  A cordon was put in place by Henley Town Council.  The hurt pedestrian was taken by ambulance to John Radcliffe hospital and is in intensive care.  Our thoughts are with her family and friends.
On Sunday between 5.00-7.00pm a large shutter from one of the recently built luxury apartments in Gardiner Place fell off and landed in the doorway of Pet’s Corner.
Some sports went ahead on Saturday, but Henley parkrun was cancelled due to falling trees on a lot of the course.  They hope that the course will be cleared ready for this Saturday.
Oakley Wood Recycling centre has been closed today (MONDAY) and tomorrow (TUESDAY) due to a fallen tree
Trains
Network Rail teams have been out in all weather clearing fallen trees, debris swept onto the track and fixing infrastructure damaged by the extreme weather. As this work continued into today, a 50mph emergency speed restriction imposed on the weekend was maintained.  The speed restriction has now been lifted, and they are reopening railway lines once safe to do so. Advice to customers for the rest of today remains to only travel if necessary, as a reduced timetable is in place while trains and crew are displaced across the network. Tickets dated for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and today will be valid for use until Wednesday (23rd).  They are working hard to ensure a near-normal timetable in place from the start of service tomorrow (Tuesday).
Rogue Traders
Residents are being warned to be wary of cold callers or leaflets offering to do work on roofs after the recent storms. Oxfordshire County Council’s trading standards team believes it is a perfect opportunity for rogue traders to take advantage of residents who have a leaking roof or broken tile.

Many traders will be booked up, so the advice is to be wary of traders who can arrive to start the work the following day and push for a quick agreement to use them.

Any Oxfordshire resident who has concerns about cold calling or potential scams can contact the Citizens Advice National Consumer Service on 0800 144 8848 or by visiting its website citizensadvice.org.uk.

Below are few key numbers to call:
🍃0345 310 111 – Fallen trees (Oxfordshire County Council)
⚡Power – Ring 105 (full number 0800 31 63 105)