Council leaders pay tribute to storm heroes

Tributes have been paid to the people who kept Norfolk moving throughout the weekend's storms, at a council meeting today.

Norfolk County Council leader Andrew Proctor told today's full council meeting:

"We want to thank the emergency services, volunteers and everyone who has worked so hard over the past few days to keep us safe. Many of them were working in treacherous conditions but they stuck to the task and did an outstanding job. We should all be proud of the manner in which Norfolk rose to the occasion."

Like much of the country, Norfolk was hit by three storms in quick succession with Storm Dudley followed by storms Eunice and Franklin. Winds reached over 80mph in many areas with travel disruption, power outages and damage to buildings.

Emergency services and teams across the public sector were well prepared for the storms with local resilience plans put into action.

Norfolk County Council's highways team were busy keeping the road and pathways clear. A total of 275 trees have been cleared from Norfolk's roads since the storms started last week, with up to 40 crews on hand to deal with the damage.

On Friday, Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service received 130 Storm Eunice related 999 calls, attending 61 incidents. Wholetime and on-call crews, and specialist urban search and rescue team, attended everything from fallen trees to unsafe building structures.

Tim Edwards, Interim Chief Fire Officer at Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, said: "As a service we are prepared for extreme conditions and these storms have highlighted the strength of our teams in working together and responding to emergencies across Norfolk to ensure the safety of the public. We would also thank the public for heeding safety advice and preventing further incidents on our roads and in our communities."

The aftermath of all three storms will continue to be dealt with as the week continues. Norfolk County Council's highways teams will be inspecting key routes to check for damage and potential obstructions.

If you spot a problem on the highway you can report a highway problem on our website.