Eunice Blows Through
Feb. 19th, 2022 11:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloEunice turned out to be the worst storm to hit the UK in over 30 years. Gusts of 120mph were recorded in London. This morning we're being treated to pictures of Tony Blair's folly of an exhibition centre- the O2 Arena (previously the Millennium Dome)- with a good part of its tent-like roof stripped away.
How do people feel about the O2 Arena? They didn't like it to begin with- for reasons of expense and politics- but it has settled down into the London skyline and is now a bit of an icon- one of London's signature buildings- like Tower Bridge, St Paul's or the London Eye. My guess is that it's accepted rather than loved. I suspect its connection to Blair and Mandelson and the fatuous Millennium exhibition will have to have passed out of living memory before it is fully taken to our hearts.
Of course it may have gone before then. Even now the owners may be wondering whether to repair or demolish.
We went out into the storm. It was our day off and we were blowed (pun not intended but gratefully accepted) if we were going to let mere wind keep us cooped up indoors. There was a lot of broken wood in the road to be driven round- but no blockages. We noted that a number of businesses had decided not to open. I got out of the car to walk round the churchyard at Leybourne and felt buffeted but not in any danger. My hat stayed on my head.
We got home to find that the power had been off since lunchtime. It came back on around six o'clock, went off again around midnight, came back mid-morning. We've been out to Tesco's to buy in a reserve of the sort of food that can be eaten cold in case further outages occur.
Two trees in the top field have been broken in half.
And now it's raining.
How do people feel about the O2 Arena? They didn't like it to begin with- for reasons of expense and politics- but it has settled down into the London skyline and is now a bit of an icon- one of London's signature buildings- like Tower Bridge, St Paul's or the London Eye. My guess is that it's accepted rather than loved. I suspect its connection to Blair and Mandelson and the fatuous Millennium exhibition will have to have passed out of living memory before it is fully taken to our hearts.
Of course it may have gone before then. Even now the owners may be wondering whether to repair or demolish.
We went out into the storm. It was our day off and we were blowed (pun not intended but gratefully accepted) if we were going to let mere wind keep us cooped up indoors. There was a lot of broken wood in the road to be driven round- but no blockages. We noted that a number of businesses had decided not to open. I got out of the car to walk round the churchyard at Leybourne and felt buffeted but not in any danger. My hat stayed on my head.
We got home to find that the power had been off since lunchtime. It came back on around six o'clock, went off again around midnight, came back mid-morning. We've been out to Tesco's to buy in a reserve of the sort of food that can be eaten cold in case further outages occur.
Two trees in the top field have been broken in half.
And now it's raining.
