'Stay safe' was a job well done
ONE has to hesitate before we can say that Guernsey largely escaped the impact of Storm Ciaran. Certainly we can say that Jersey had it worse.
But every bit of damage to property is a personal problem to someone, stuck somewhere between an inconvenience and a disaster. Most will take time to fix.
But at least, as the Police Chief pointed out, there was no loss of life, no reported injuries.
‘We collectively weathered the storm well as an island,’ Ruari Hardy said.
In many ways, what has made Storm Ciaran stand out was not the ferocity of the weather, or the damage caused, but our preparedness for it, and the fact that it then had less of an impact than we might have feared.
But even if winds fell 20mph short of the record, it was still plenty bad enough to justify the ‘stay at home’ message put out by the authorities.
And by yesterday afternoon, we were bouncing back.
The clean-up has begun, and for some, that will take quite some time.
It felt a little odd to be returning to the old ‘Stay Safe’ conversations from Covid times three years ago.
But with that thought uppermost in their minds, both the emergency services, who did a sterling job, as we have come to expect, and the States Strategic Coordinating Group which planned the 'operation', can now look back and reflect on a job well done.