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It was good to see several of the shops on Tregenna back open today. Harbour Bookshop were up and running, having cleared out damaged stock and cleaned up the shop. Yeungs Chinese Takeaway was open and serving the best ribs in St Ives (authorative source of best ribs recommendation: my great friend Anna Chen). Look Sharp open but still bailing out at the back of the shop.
So Tregenna is at least mostly back in business for now.
I've not commented so far on the tragic events west of Zennor - deiliberately due to lack of precise information. According to the current news online a car was swept away by floodwater. One person is dead, one survived and two missing. Naturally my thoughts and yours are with them and their families and friends. The damage to St Ives shops is trivial in comparison. We passed the scene this afternoon on the coast road and there was still a major presence of emergency services - presumably still searching and hoping to find the missing two.
Flooding In St Ives Cornwall - April 2009 - Shops Severely Damaged.
Following a storm late last night the damage caused in Tregenna Place and The Stennack became clear. The new flood defences, constructed by The Environment Agency at a cost of £10 million, comprehensively failed.
Shops affected include Harveys Butchers, Harbour Bookshop, Ceramica, British Heart Foundation, Warrens Bakers and The Oven Door Bakery.
The Western Hotel also suffered damage, with The Kettle ‘n Wink bar flooded out. They are planning to re-open tonight.
Harveys are planning to re-open on Monday.
Some of the other shops may be closed for some time.
Fire crews closed roads and were busy pumping out affected premises.
According to an Environment Agency News Release, dated April 2009:
“Residents of St Ives in Cornwall will celebrate the official opening, next week, of the town's award winning £10 million flood defence scheme. The event marks the end of four years work by the Environment Agency and its contractors who have provided St Ives with a tailor-made scheme. The project includes a number of ground-breaking engineering techniques never used before in the UK ..... ” Environment Agency Website
The affected businesses have lost out hugely in terms of lost business and stock damage.
They will also probably face massive increases in insurance premiums, if they can get insurance at all.
Interesting question – who is going to pay for all this ?
I’ll post more news as it comes through.
Post Script.
I've just reviewed the Environment Agency News Release.
"St Ives is also the first scheme to use a Carbon Calculator which works out the carbon footprint of the whole project. The calculator, which measures energy efficiency, covers everything from the travelling of staff to the production of materials used in the construction. The Environment Agency will now use this method on flood defence schemes across the country.
The St Ives Flood Defence Scheme recently won the Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment (CEEQUAL) Whole Project Award. This accolade is given to projects that achieve distinctive and exceptional environmental standards."
So - the scheme has a low carbon footprint, achieves exceptional environmental standards and is fully politically correct.
