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 study came about and what it reveals about community resilience in the face of extreme weather.
The storm
I live in Mawnan, a coastal parish in Southwest Cornwall – a pretty, quiet place, bounded by the Helford River to the south and the Fal Estuary to the east. On the evening of 8 January 2026, our community was struck by Storm Goretti.
High winds caused extensive damage to infrastructure and homes. Substantial tree fall cut off access, power, and communications, leaving parts of the parish isolated and creating a series of unexpected cascading impacts. For many residents, the storm exposed just how vulnerable rural communities can be when critical services fail simultaneously.
But Goretti also revealed something else: 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 volunteers worked together to clear fallen trees and reopen roads.
The study
The idea for this study emerged just days after the storm during conversations with a colleague on the Social and Behavioural Science for Emergencies Group (SBSE), about how prepared people were, how they experienced and responded to the disruption, and what policymakers could learn from those experiences.
SBSE, convened by the Government Office for Science, commissioned this qualitative study to better understand how rural communities prepare for, respond to and recover from extreme weather events. While much emergency planning focuses on formal response systems, the experience of Storm Goretti highlighted the critical role that communities themselves play when disruption occurs.
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 report provides insights that can support policymakers, emergency planners, responders and communities in preparing for and recovering from future severe weather events and other hazards.
Key themes include:
- Individual and community preparedness
- The effectiveness of weather warnings and emergency alerts
- The impacts of power and communications outages
- Rural vulnerability and exposure to hazards
- Community-led response and recovery
By documenting the lived experiences of Mawnan residents before, during and after Storm Goretti, the report offers a rare insight into rural emergency response from the perspective of those directly affected.
Importantly, it also gives voice to a rural Cornish community that often feels overlooked in national conversations about resilience, emergency planning and climate adaptation.
Months on, conversations in Mawnan still return to the storm and what it revealed about our community: our strengths and vulnerabilities, the importance of working together, and the practical steps we can take to prepare for future shocks. The publication of this report feels particularly timely as communities across the country enter another storm season and consider what resilience means in an increasingly uncertain climate.
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