Storm Arwen: The rescuers who battled through the night

The howling winds of Storm Arwen kept many people awake over the night of 26 November. BBC Radio Newcastle has caught up with some of those whom were out and about in the dark, cold and wet.

With red warnings for wind in place, Kerry Shotton knew he was in for a busy Friday night.

Kerry, the watch manager at Amble fire station, was primed along with his crew of on-call firefighters to head out into the storms to assist people.

But when the first call came at about 19:00 GMT, even he was not prepared for what lay ahead

"We faced challenges that night that certainly I've never faced before in my career," he recalls.

Winds of up to 98mph howled over the hills and up the valleys of the North East, tearing down countless trees and powerlines.

Hundreds of thousands of homes were plunged into darkness and cold, with power cuts lasting up to 11 days for some.

Like Kerry, Ian Longstaff was expecting a hectic few hours.

The Rothbury-based tree surgeon got his first call at about 18:30 on the Friday to deal with a downed tree in Berwick.

The first challenge was navigating the route entangled by more fallen trees.

Ian, his nephew Darren Longstaff and apprentice Archie Bertram, drove out in the darkness, their vehicle buffeted by the blustery winds.

But when they came to the A697, the main road through Wooler up to the Scottish border at Coldstream, the magnitude of their task suddenly dawned on Ian.

"There was a lot of traffic trying to head up to Scotland, between 40 and 60 cars, and I had to ring the council to say it was too dangerous," Ian says, adding: "I closed the road there."

Armed with chainsaws and cutting equipment they did what they could to clear the trees in their path.

"It was absolutely horrendous," Darren says, adding: "The adrenalin takes over and you haven't got time to think."

Archie recalls: "There were trees coming down in front of us and behind us. My helmet was just about blown off my head.

"I couldn't see or hear anything and we were absolutely soaking.

"It was out of this world."

While the trio of tree surgeons did what they could, Kerry and his crew were doing their utmost to get to those who needed help.

"There was one incident where we couldn't get to the property and had to park half a mile away," Kerry says.

"The winds were at their strongest and it was difficult to walk."

Shortly after midnight, Kerry called on the Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team to assist, with Iain Nixon and his fellow volunteers responding.

"We are trained to deal with harsh conditions but I've never seen anything like it," Iain says.

Two team members had to leave the Land Rover and make their way on foot to rescue a couple, with it taking several more hours to actually get them to safety.

The firefighters were on their way to another job at Netherton when they became stuck among fallen trees.

"It was taking the best part of two to three hours to get to an incident where normally we are used to being there in just five or 10 minutes," Kerry says

"It was difficult knowing there were people needing our help but we were not able to reach them," he adds.

Fortunately, Kerry's trapped crew came face-to-face with another group being kept up at night by the storm - Ian Longstaff and his tree surgeons.

"If we hadn't have been there I don't think they would have got through," Ian recalls, adding: "We had the chainsaws and the gear."

Kerry's weary firefighters eventually returned to the station at 07:00 on 27 November, some 12 hours after they were called out.

But within two hours the phone was ringing again and they were back out of the door.

"For these firefighters on call it's a secondary job," Kerry says, adding: "I'm very proud of how they performed that night, not one person complained.

"Everyone came together that night to support the community."

Ian's sleepless night ended at 06:30, but the peace did not last long for him either.

"I got about 45 minutes sleep then the phone started ringing again," the tree-surgeon says.

It was a night none of them or the thousands of others who suffered power cuts and drama wrought by Storm Arwen will forget.

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