Good evening,

I hope my email finds you well.

Following the devastating flooding caused by Storm Babet, like me, you may be watching with caution the forecast for Storm Ciarán tomorrow.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for Suffolk, which you can read here. High winds of between 40-50mph are forecast with possible gusts of up 60mph, and 20 to 30mm of rainfall.

The Suffolk Resilience Forum, of which Suffolk County Council is a partner, has met several times to understand the risks and to ensure our contingency plans are up-to-date and thorough. Suffolk County Council and the Suffolk Resilience Forum will continue to monitor the forecast, especially the impact of any rainfall following the devastation caused by Storm Babet. Suffolk County Council will also continue to offer support to communities and businesses, as well as ensuring that our essential services, such as adult social care, are delivered.

Because high winds are forecast, National Highways has made the decision to close the Orwell Bridge at midnight tonight. From 6am tomorrow morning, National Highways will monitor the situation with the hope of reopening the bridge ASAP. For those who use the A14 or live and work in Ipswich and surrounding towns and village, the bridge closure can cause significant congestion.

For live updates and safety advice keep an eye on Suffolk County Council’s social media, including Suffolk Highways.  There is some helpful information below, which I would be grateful if you would please share through your own Parish communication channels.

Important Information:

Storm Ciarán – Preparations

A new storm is set to bring a period of wet and windy weather to Suffolk overnight Wednesday 1st November and throughout Thursday 2nd November 2023.

Weather warnings

Get the latest weather warnings from the Met Office. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/

The Orwell Bridge

Closures of the Orwell bridge are authorised by National Highways.  You can find out the latest information relating to the Orwell bridge by visiting https://nationalhighways.co.uk/travel-updates/travel-alerts/

The following Twitter feeds also provide any late changes to closures and also any national or South East information:

@HighwaysSEAST

@NationalHways

Other roads in Suffolk

You can find out more information about road closures by visiting

https://one.network/

You can also get the latest information by following Suffolk Highways on Twitter

@Suff_Highways

Report a Fallen Tree online.

Report a fallen or overhanging tree or hedge in Suffolk quickly and easily online. Link to Highways Reporting Tool

Please report a fallen or overhanging tree as per below::

  1. it poses an immediate danger to public safety – call 0345 606 6171
  2. on a trunk road in Suffolk  – call the Highways England Information Line on 0300 123 5000

School Closures

Decisions about whether schools close are made by the schools themselves. Please check with your school directly, they should be able to give you more information.

You can also check school closures on suffolk.gov.uk.

Power cuts

For help about power cuts – call 105 or go to www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut

Suffolk Prepared

Find out more information on how you can plan ahead to deal with emergency situations from the Suffolk Resilience Forum.

Read:

Six things you can do to prepare for an emergency (https://suffolkprepared.co.uk/get-prepared/prepare-yourself/)

I hope the information above is helpful and more importantly, I hope that Storm Ciarán is far kinder to us than Storm Babet was.  If I can help with anything further, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

With best wishes,

Elaine

Elaine Bryce

Chairman – Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee

Vice-Chair – Kesgrave, Rushmere St Andrew, Martlesham, Carlford & Fynn Valley Community Partnership

County Councillor for Carlford Division

Email: elaine.bryce@suffolk.gov.uk

Tel: 07955 434440

Endeavour House | Russell Road | Ipswich | Suffolk | IP1 2BX

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