Matt Phillips, who heads up Monmouth County Council’s response team for Storm Eunice, has sent the following information to Devauden Community Council.

Storm Eunice is due to impact the South West of the UK starting at 3am tomorrow and it will become a Red level storm along the South Wales coast from 7am; it will be amber across the rest of Wales. We could see coastal winds up to 100mph, inland winds up to 60-70mph and all that such winds bring – trees falling, roads blocked, flooding in Tintern and a threat to other coastal areas because of the tidal surge.

It is anticipated that all rail services in South Wales stopping no later than midnight tonight until Sat morning and there is a real chance that both Severn Crossings will be closed first thing tomorrow morning. The road through Tintern will be closed in the early morning and Caerleon Rd, near the Caerleon Bridge, will be closed at a similar time (6am ish).

All schools in Wales will be closed or remote learning tomorrow. Household Waste Recycling Centres will be closed and there will be no waste collection operating; all markets will be closed; all Council hubs will be closed; all care services have been priority assessed today and plans put in place for 4x4 vehicle provision where required and community meals provision has been contingency planned to make deliveries too.

Monmouthshire County Council’s partner organisations have stood up the necessary resources to respond to flying debris damage and coastal flooding as the primary risks, and Council teams are ready to respond to fallen trees, blocked roads etc.
The messaging from all agencies is effectively to stay at home unless there is an urgent requirement to the contrary. The health board will be reducing elective surgery work and there will be closures for testing and vaccinating sites (please check the NHS website for details).

The Council has emergency structures stood up and ready to respond but resources are limited and may also be subject to mutual aid requests from other agencies.  

The Council’s contact centre staff are working remotely and will operate as usual from 9am to 5pm. The MyMonmouthshire app will also enable access to services via www.monmouthshire.gov.uk. Residents can ring the contact centre on 01633 644644.
If you need to contact the Council please call 01633 644644.

Please do not call Officers directly – they are not going to be able to deal with calls coming to them directly and the Council needs to run everything through the emergency cell in order to safely coordinate and account for their staff.

Up-to-date information is available from The Monmouthshire County Council on Facebook and Twitter.

Please stay safe.

Matt Phillips