NEW REPORT: Rural emergency preparedness, response and recovery

Published on 23 October 2026

A new GO-Science/BR-UK/ACCESS report examines how a rural Cornish community prepared for, experienced, and recovered from one of the most severe storms to hit the South West in decades. Co-author of the report, Suzy Darke (ACCESS, University of Exeter), explains how the project arose and presents the findings.

 

 

The storm

I live in Mawnan, a coastal parish in Southwest Cornwall – a pretty, sleepy place, bounded by the Helford River in the south and the Fal Estuary in the east. On the evening of 8 January 2026, my community was heavily impacted by Storm Goretti. High winds inflicted serious damage to infrastructure and homes, and substantial treefall cut off access, power, and communications to the parish, leading to severe and unexpected cascading impacts.

While Goretti exacerbated, and in some cases, revealed my rural community’s vulnerability to climate hazards, it also demonstrated our resilience. With formal services overwhelmed and unable to access the parish, the community mobilised. From the early hours of 9 January, chainsaws growled in every direction, as those who were able joined an informal tree-clearance effort to reopen access routes. Others spent the next couple of days knocking on doors to check on neighbours, gather and share information, and distribute flasks of hot food and water, until power and communications were restored.

The study

This study arose from conversations about our experience with a colleague on the Social and Behavioural Science for Emergencies Group (SBSE) just days after the storm.

SBSE, convened by the Government Office for Science, commissioned this qualitative study to build a clearer understanding of how rural communities respond to extreme weather events.

The report was written by Dr Kitty Saunders (Behavioural Research UK, University College London), Dr Suzy Darke (ACCESS, University of Exeter) and Dr Carrie Heitmeyer MBE (GO-Science), with a foreword by Professor Tom Crick MBE, Chair of the Social and Behavioural Science for Emergencies Steering Group and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

 

The report

The findings will support policymakers, communities, planners and responders with preparation for and recovery from future severe weather events and other hazards, and include insights on:

  • Individual and community preparedness
  • The effectiveness of weather warnings and emergency alerts
  • Impacts on power and communications
  • Rural vulnerability to hazards
  • Community-led recovery

 

In sharing the lived experience of Mawnan residents during and after Storm Goretti, this report also gives voice to a rural, Cornish population that often feels overlooked and unheard.

Conversations in the community continue to circle back to the storm and what it has taught us about ourselves and our home, our resilience and our vulnerability, and how we can better prepare ourselves for future shocks. The report’s publication today feels particularly poignant, as we navigate the first named storm of the 2026/27 season.

 

Read the report

 

Citation: Saunders, K.R.K., Darke, S., and Heitmeyer, C. (2026). Storm Goretti: A qualitative investigation of rural emergency preparedness, response and recovery. Behavioural Research-UK and Government Office for Science.  https://doi.org/10.7488/era/7881