DORSET was recovering today after the county was battered by hurricane-force winds causing widespread chaos.

Storm Eunice brought 90mph winds tearing down trees, blowing vehicles off roads, ripping off roofs, blocking highways and railways, and plunging communities into darkness.

Authorities said Storm Eunice looks like being the most significant storm to hit the south of England in decades.

Schools had closed following severe weather warnings and many people chose to stay home and work amid advice not to travel.

Communities were on standby due to huge waves battering the coast - it was warned that Portland Beach Road could close last night due to expected tidal swells which may cause flooding.

Adverse weather brought havoc as gusts of of up to 90mph hit the county yesterday with south and west Dorset issued with an amber wind warning and east Dorset and Purbeck issued with a red amber warning for much of the day.

More than 300 emergency calls were received by Fire Control during the daytime yesterday, with many reporting fallen trees, fallen power cables and building damage.

In Wareham, crews raced to help a man who became trapped under a 40ft tree which had fallen.

A Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service spokesperson said: “We were called to North Bestwall Drive, Wareham at 12.51pm to help ambulance with a casualty who had been trapped under a 40ft tree.

“Two crews attended, from Wareham and Bere Regis, and saws were used to cut away branches and free the man. He was taken to hospital as a precaution.”

Meanwhile, a yellow weather warning has been issued for today across Dorset as further strong winds are expected, which weather experts warning it could hamper recovery efforts from Storm Eunice.

Forecasters have reported that gusts of up to 60mph are expected to hit with the yellow weather warning in place from 6am to 6pm.

The Met Office said: "The winds themselves could cause minor disruption; but given the expected impact from Storm Eunice on Friday, these conditions on Saturday may hamper any clear-up operations."

Yesterday, residents were urged to only make journeys if necessary as the high winds caused multiple roads to close as routes were made treacherous due to the amount of flooding, fallen trees and fallen power cables.Train services across the county had also been suspended as a result of a high number of fallen trees across the network.

Hundreds of households and businesses all across the county were left without power as several outages were reported by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks.

Dorset Council took action as it prepared for the adverse weather, and on Thursday made the pre-emptive decision to advise all schools to close to staff and students for the day and to suspend the continuation of some of its services.

Services suspended yesterday included: council transport, including school and social care; closure of day centres; closure of all household recycling centre; closure of libraries and council owned buildings; roads closed at short notice; bin collections; and the closure of Durlston Country Park with scheduled performances cancelled.

Dorset Council said that it expects many of these services to continue as normal over the weekend as the weather calms.

A spokesman said: "The majority of our services will reopen as normal over the weekend with the exception of country parks and the grounds of Weymouth Crematorium which need to assess the safety of their trees."

Emergency procedures were also put in place to keep homeless and rough sleepers safe, to make welfare checks to the vulnerable and home care providers during the storm.

A spokesman for Dorset Council said: "Our homeless team has activated the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol, which means from Thursday we offered temporary B&B accommodation to homeless people for three nights."

Emergency services and local authorities were pushed to their limit yesterday as they received a high number of call outs responding to accidents and damage caused by falling or flying debris.

As of midday, there had already been 11 storm-related incidents attended by fire crews in Dorset, all involving fallen trees, fallen power cables or structural damage to property, and resulted in the area being made safe or advice being given.

However, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service urged people to only call their emergency line for Storm Eunice damage where life was at risk.

* Keep up to date with the latest travel and weather news on our website www.dorsetecho.co.uk

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