Roofers, builders, maintenance teams and landscapers have worked long hours under pressure, responding to emergency call-outs and prioritising urgent repairs for families, elderly residents and vulnerable neighbours.
Merchants and suppliers ensured materials were available so repairs could continue weeks after the storm.
Norman Piette and Annandale were among those helping customers and contractors and staying open later to assist recovery efforts.
Carpenter Dan Alderton said that his regular customers were willing to have their jobs put aside so he could focus on people suffering from water ingress.
‘We were having to prioritise certain jobs over others which is difficult,’ he said.
‘It was call-out after call-out, so we had to just get people to message us with all of the details so we could put together a list to get to everyone.
‘Within a week of the storm, we had done 36 jobs.’
Jobs ranged from missing tiles, slipped slates, missing ridges and broken windows.
Mr Alderton was even called out during the peak of the storm to a property where the chimney pot had fallen off and smashed through a glass roof.
‘It was about midnight on the night of the storm, and we just couldn’t get anywhere.
‘We had to try three or four ways to get to another house and in the end abandoned the truck and had to carry all our gear up the road,’ said Mr Alderton.
‘They’d had a slate blow off straight through a double-glazed window and there was shattered glass all over the bedroom and bed.
‘The resident couldn’t physically open the door because of the pressure build-up in the room, so we had to make the room safe and get the window boarded up.’
Since the storm, he has also been working on repairs at Lihou Island, where there were ceilings fallen in and water damage.
Steve Nelson of SN Roofing said that his phone had been ringing off the hook.
‘I was asking people to WhatsApp me pictures of their damage so I could ascertain the height of the property and whether it needed a scaffold and the tiles that would be needed.
‘If there wasn’t water coming in then they would be safe and could wait a little longer,’ he said.
‘We’re a two-man team and we’ve probably done 30 repairs since the storm.
‘I have been kind to people, doing quick two-minute repairs for free while I’ve been in the area.’
Both tradesmen said that they had seen different types of damage to that seen during Storm Ciaran.
The wind direction was different, they said, but they had also seen damage that they did not expect, plus additional damage from flying slates.
Norman Piette Group CEO John Bampkin said that the aftermath of the storm had been difficult for many, but the quick response had shown the strength of Guernsey’s local trades.
‘The aftermath of Storm Goretti highlighted the value of local skills, relationships and community spirit,’ he said.
‘From emergency roof repairs to temporary fixes that prevented further damage, the combined efforts of our tradespeople have helped hundreds of residents begin the process of recovery during a challenging time.’
You need to be logged in to comment. If you had an account on our previous site, you can migrate your old account and comment profile to this site by visiting this page and entering the email address for your old account. We'll then send you an email with a link to follow to complete the process.