St Jude Storm Case Study

The storm formed in the North-mid Atlantic south of the coast of Greenland, deepening as they tracked towards the UK.  St Jude tracked east a reached its lowest pressure of 967mb

 It had sustained winds of 87pmh and gusts that reached 121mph recorded over Denmark

 The storm hit the uk  in October 2013

• 3 people were killed - 20 died internationall and mainly as a result of the high wind speeds
• million of trees blown over
• trains cancelled/severly delayed by debris on the tracks
• Dungeness Nuclear Power Station in south east Kent was closed due to falling trees damaging the power supply
• National power cuts
• storm surge swept 1 boy out to sea and to his death
• Flooding caused by swollen rivers and the mouths of rivers were blocked by the storm surge - low impact flash floods and overspilling onto floodplains largely around the mouth fo rivers

• The MET office issued an amber warning which informs residents in vulnerable areas to be prepared - MET office has heavily invested in modelling systmes for this purpose
• They were particularly careful to issue advice for residents to take. Such advice included being advised not to travel unless absolutely unavoidable and moving free objects out of gardens as they may have been blown into the house
• Little evacuation was done because the main threat was the wind speeds
• Port authorities could cancel cross channel ferry journeys 

• Emergency services from the north of the country were drafted in to help speed up the response
•  only trees that caused obstruction and were considered dangerous were removed by clear up teams
• cost of £130million in insurance claims and £370million was incurred after this as a part of the clear up