Homeowners on Britain’s most eroded shoreline pack up their belongings after warning their seaside properties won’t survive Storm Goretti
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Homeowners along Britain’s most eroded coastline were pictured carrying furniture, rugs and fridges across sand dunes as they rushed to salvage their belongings after being told their seaside properties may not survive Storm Goretti.
Residents in Hemsby, Norfolk, were ordered to evacuate clifftop homes after days of severe erosion left buildings teetering on the edge of collapse.
Fourteen houses on The Marrams and Fakes Road were left perilously close to the cliff edge after around 10 metres of land were lost since Friday, prompting emergency action by the council.
Among those forced to leave was 90-year-old George Mayes, who is packing up 35 years of his life after being told his home is at imminent risk of collapsing into the sea.
Mr Mayes’s daughter, Vikki Ottoway, said while fighting back tears: ‘In the last 24 hours I’ve managed to get his oil transferred and get the removals in.
‘We’re packing up his life here today.’
Mr Mayes, an RAF veteran, learned on Wednesday that he would have to leave the property, which is due to be demolished next week, with the council arranging short-term accommodation for him in a Travelodge.
Homeowners along Britain’s most eroded coastline were pictured carrying furniture, rugs and fridges across sand dunes as they rushed to salvage their belongings after being told their seaside properties may not survive Storm Goretti
Steve Oliver, centre, helped by Simon Measures, chair of Save Hemsby Coastline, carrying items out of his home before it is demolished at Hemsby
Fourteen houses on The Marrams and Fakes Road were left perilously close to the cliff edge after around 10 metres of land were lost since Friday, January 2, prompting emergency action by the council
The evacuation is part of a wider emergency unfolding along Hemsby’s coastline, where multiple homeowners have been ordered to leave properties left dangerously exposed after further cliff falls were feared during forecast strong winds and heavy rain linked to Storm Goretti.
Steve Oliver, 64, was also told he had to leave his home, which was due to be demolished on Thursday.
He said he had been in Great Yarmouth on Wednesday, January 7, speaking with members of the borough council’s housing team.
When he returned home that evening, he found the electricity had been disconnected and that he had been served with a Section 78 notice which allows councils to prohibit occupation of dangerous buildings.
He stayed with a neighbour that night but said he did not know where he would live in the future.
Mr Oliver had lived in the property for nine years, having previously served nine years in the army and 25 years in the police.
‘I was 55 when I moved here. I decided to leave the rat race and live on my pension,’ he said.
Among those forced to leave was 90-year-old George Mayes (pictured) who is packing up 35 years of his life after being told his home is at imminent risk of collapsing into the sea
Workers have been tearing down properties in Hemsby before the plunge over the clifftop
Salvaged white goods stand where houses once had an unspoilt view over the North Sea
‘I sold my house in Northampton and bought the house here in Hemsby. I thought I could live the rest of my life here.’
He said the council had offered him ‘nothing’.
Mr Oliver added: ‘They said here’s a list of private landlords – you’ll have to contact them yourself.’
On Thursday morning, with the help of friends and volunteers, Mr Oliver removed all his belongings from his home.
He said he would stay with a neighbour for a few days but did not know where he would go after that.
Natasha Hayes, the borough council’s director of place, said that some of the residents will be offered emergency accommodation.
She said: ‘Some of the impacted residents will go onto the council’s housing list and then be prioritised according to their needs.
‘Many people have known this has been coming, and for others it’s been a shock.’
She praised the ‘army of volunteers’ who have been helping people move out.
Ms Hayes added: ‘From our perspective, we would very much like to see the government review its policy on compensating people affected by coastal erosion, especially considering what’s been happening this winter at Thorpeness in Suffolk and here in Hemsby.’
More than 30ft of coastline has been lost in some parts of Hemsby, Norfolk, in the past week
Fourteen clifftop homes have been warned their properties are at risk of imminent collapse
Hemsby: The 21-hour storm will hit from 3pm today until 12pm tomorrow – with the most snow in the Midlands and Wales, where 30cm (1ft) could fall
Currently, people affected by flooding receive compensation, but those impacted by coastal erosion do not.
Over the past 12 years, Hemsby has lost a total of 34 homes to the North Sea.
That includes seven following a tidal surge in December 2013, another seven following the Beast from the East in March 2018, 11 in 2023, and nine over the past three weeks.
Carol Boyes, 80, was helped out of her chalet on Friday night by lifeboat crew members, council workers and volunteers after it was left in peril. Her decking is now hanging over the cliff edge.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘The decking was still there on Friday but because of the storm they said they were going to move us out.
‘Just as well because the next morning the road had gone. It had just cracked in half.
‘I’ve lived there for 23 years. I’ve been upset obviously a few times but it hasn’t really hit me yet. I’ve got too much to sort out, which is taking my mind off it for now.’
Carol Boyes, 80, who has been a resident for 35 years, pictured at her home last year
Steve Oliver carrying his belongings out of his home before it is demolished at Hemsby
Great Yarmouth Borough Council has written to 14 residents on The Marrams and Fakes Road to say they must leave as their homes are at imminent risk of collapse and have been scheduled for demolition
The Met Office has issued six separate yellow and amber warnings across the South West and North of England, the Midlands, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Goretti is undergoing explosive cyclogenesis, also known as a ‘weather bomb’, when the central pressure of a low-pressure system falls 24 millibars in 24 hours.
For this storm, the pressure will drop by 36 millibars in the 24 hours to 6pm this evening.
The 21-hour storm will hit from 3pm today until 12pm tomorrow, with the most snow in the Midlands and Wales, where 30cm (1ft) could fall.
Areas in the Home Counties including Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hertfordshire could see up to 20cm (8in).
Wind speeds of up to 100mph could strike exposed regions from this evening, with meteorologists warning of ‘violent gusts that may persist for two to three hours’, especially in South West England, as the weather brings a ‘danger to life’ to the UK.
