London Fire Brigade has declared a “major incident” over the high volume of 999 calls it is receiving relating to Storm Eustice.
“We have declared a major incident in response to the volume of 999 calls being taken about #StormEunice related incidents,” it tweeted on Friday afternoon.
“Firefighters are still meeting the needs of our communities, but declaring a major incident allows us to focus our resources.”
It added: “We’ve introduced batch mobilisation, meaning calls where there is a risk to life are prioritised and crews then attend other calls as non-emergencies when they can.
“Control took 550 calls between 1030 and 1300 - more than the average number usually taken in a 24-hour period.”
The biggest incident the fire brigade had to respond to was at the London’s O2 arena, where 1,000 people were evacuated as parts of its roof were ripped off in high winds.
We have declared a major incident in response to the volume of 999 calls being taken about #StormEunice related incidents. Firefighters are still meeting the needs of our communities, but declaring a major incident allows us to focus our resources. https://t.co/wF2DTSvxCy pic.twitter.com/NqoztV335a
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) February 18, 2022
The damage was described as “tragic” by the band Simply Red, and “so sad” by a woman who witnessed a “chunk” coming off the top.
It comes after London Ambulance Service said two people were taken to hospital after being struck by falling debris and a tree in separate incidents in Waterloo and Streatham, just an hour apart.
Storm Eunice has wreaked havoc to transport services across the capital with falling trees losing every train line in the south-east of the city. All trains in and out of Euston Station were cancelled until further notice.
Hundreds of flights have also been cancelled with Heathrow and London City the worst-hit airports in the country.
Meanwhile, South Central Ambulance Service has declared a critical incident as it faced high demand and travel disruption related to the Atlantic storm that was sweeping across England.
“We will continue to focus on reaching those patients with life-threatening or serious injuries and illnesses first,” South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust’s Paul Jefferies said in a statement.
“Unfortunately there will be unavoidable delays in getting to those patients with less urgent needs for which we apologise in advance.”
