WHEN STORM Eunice hit Hurst in Friday, residents were left fearing for their safety.
A tree felled by the high winds left a power cable hanging low over Sawpit Road, with drivers continuing to use the route.
“It was getting a bit dark and cars were still hurtling through there,” said one resident from the area. “It would only have taken a bus or a truck and the cable could have been snapped.
“So I dragged a wheelie bin into the middle of the road and put a flashing light on top. Other residents organised cones across the road.”
Hurst Parish Council chair, Cllr Wayne Smith and Cllr Paul Palmer were among the helpers.
Jules Childs from Arborfield said that she spent three days trying to find out from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks if the cable was live.
“SSEN told me on Friday evening to tell people to stay five metres away,” she said. “They said it was likely it was live but they couldn’t tell.
“I tried for three hours on Saturday and Sunday to contact them to find out if it was still live, but I couldn’t get through. People were walking past the cable and under it.”
Her mum Mary Childs, living close to the fallen cable, was left with no power for heating or cooking.
Miss Childs took her mum to her home in Arborfield for three days until the power was restored on Monday.
Other nearby residents moved out to friends and relatives. Patricia Pascoe, 75, stayed at a friend’s from Saturday.
She said: “Fortunately I’d cooked a meal before the power went off on Friday. I had two small candles for light that evening. It was hard to read.”
Summer Stanley, 27, said: “It was horrible. There was no TV, no heating and I couldn’t cook.”
She and her one-year-old son, Hendrix, stayed with her mum for three days.
“I was lucky to have her close by,” she said.
Friends rallied round Fiona Jeffery when she came home from a cataract operation. Her power was back on by 6pm on Friday.
On Monday the cables had been lifted up from the road. Homes in Broadcommon Road and other Hurst roads lost power for varying periods due to the storm.
Tree surgeon company The Treeple, The People for Trees, dealt with 45 storm hit trees in three days.
Jake Smith, from Lower Earley, said: “On Friday we spent all day removing trees from roads round Hurst area.
“We didn’t charge that day, we just ensured people were safe and able to get about on the roads again. It was care in the community.
“In Mill Lane, Sindlesham by The Poachers pub there was a tree in the road. The police helped us drag the branches away. A large oak tree was down across the road at the Straight Mile at Hurst.
“An apple tree came down over the Jolly Farmer’s fence at Hurst. There were many little trees down. We were still cutting almost in the dark on Friday.”
On Saturday they were tackling two trees which threatened power and telephone lines in School Road, Hurst.
Resident Teresa Goddard said: “The storm damage was frightening. The trees could have hit the flats and the car.”
The tree surgeons had stopped by earlier to lighten the load from branches on the cables and to clear them from the road.
“These guys have been brilliant,” Mrs Goddard added.
