Monday 28th October 2013…..you could write this blog!!!!!

Some of my days are the same every week Monday being one of them so that is why I say anyone could write it…….not a terribly interesting one today.

Starts out with me getting my Casita ready for my cleaning lady patty to come….I know she wonders why my place is always so neat and tidy…it is just the way I am been like it many many years but everything needs to be in it’s place before I go out…….then went to the bank and from there to Yoga class which I always enjoy…I had promised Carolyn that I would pick her up from her Spanish class and then help her with some grunt work at her house…which I did.

I was back home by 4 pm in time to shower eat and then get down to my English class…these students are so great always happy and willing to learn and I try to make sure we have some fun but also get them every time coming to the front of the class to talk on a certain subject usually of their choosing to give them confidence and speaking out aloud.

I went to Carolyn's after class to play our favorite board game.

So there you have Monday came and went.

Four die as storm hits southern UK

 

The strongest gust of 99mph (159km/h) was recorded at Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight.

Four people have died after a storm battered southern Britain, leading to 625,000 homes losing power, and major rush-hour disruption to commuters.

A teenager in Kent and a man in Watford were killed by falling trees.

A man and a woman died in west London after a falling tree caused a suspected gas explosion and a house to collapse.

Many rail companies suspended morning services before running reduced services later. They say operations should be back to normal on Tuesday.

Flights and ferry crossing were also affected as the storm moved across Britain.

BBC forecasters say the storm, which began on Sunday night and saw heavy rain fall across many areas and wind speeds of more than 70mph (112 km/h), moved out of the UK shortly after 12:00 GMT - leaving a "broadly windy day" behind.

The strongest gust of 99mph during the storm was recorded at Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight, at 05:00 GMT.

Wind speeds of 115mph were recorded during the so-called Great Storm of October 1987.

Bethany Freeman was staying in a caravan next to her family home

Travel disruption includes:

• South West Trains is running a reduced service and some lines are still closed
• East Coast trains are running again but are subject to a reduced timetable
• Virgin West Coast has resumed running a regular service
• First Capital Connect has started to resume services but says the London to Luton route remains closed
• C2C said some train services had resumed but major disruption remained
• A severely reduced service is running on Greater Anglia but Stansted Express services remain suspended
• Southern and Gatwick Express said the Brighton mainline has now been cleared of trees and services are running on a temporary timetable
• Southeastern is operating a limited service on all routes
• First Great Western is running a regular services but there are delays and alterations on the Reading and London area branch line
• Chiltern Railways is running a normal service but says there may be some delays and short-notice cancellations
• The Highways Agency is advising motorists to check the weather forecast and road conditions before they travel

 

Bethany Freeman, 17, suffered fatal injuries when the tree came down on the caravan she was sleeping in in Hever, near Edenbridge, Kent, at about 07:20 GMT.

The caravan was next to the house she lived in with her family and she had been sleeping there while renovations were carried out.

Donal Drohan, 51, from Harrow, was pronounced dead at the scene after a tree crushed a red Peugeot 307 at Lower High Street in Watford, Hertfordshire, at 6:50 GMT.

Mark Joseph, who was passing by before the emergency services arrived, said: "We tried to assist, trying to get the tree off, but it was impossible."

The man and woman who died in west London were found after three houses collapsed and two others were damaged following a suspected gas explosion after a tree fell during high winds in Hounslow, the London Fire Brigade said. Three people injured in the incident were taken to hospital.

Power restored

The Energy Networks Association, which represents power companies across the UK, confirmed 166,000 homes were still without power at 17:00 GMT.

 

 

A spokesman said 459,000 households that had lost power earlier had been reconnected, but more had been cut off as the storm moved north and eastwards.

BBC News correspondent Duncan Kennedy, reporting from Berkshire, said engineers had had trouble reaching some of the more remote areas in southern England because of fallen trees and it could be a few days before power supplies were restored to all locations.

Network Rail said the damage to infrastructure had been "worse than expected", with more than 100 trees on lines. Several hundred staff worked through Sunday night and into the morning to monitor conditions and react to damage.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of rail customer watchdog Passenger Focus, said it was "too early to tell if the industry made the right call when cancelling so many services, but the fact that major incidents have been avoided is good news".

Prime Minister David Cameron said the deaths caused by the storm were "hugely regrettable".

Asked whether train companies had over-reacted, he said: "These are difficult things to handle because you don't know for certain just how strong the storm will be."

Yashi Koshi!!