Residents on a tidal island near Cornwall woke to the devastation wreaked by Storm Goretti, which felled more than 80 trees.
The head gardener of St Michael’s Mount, Darren Little, said he was heartbroken to see the island on Friday morning, and the damage was 10 times worse than that caused by any other storm in the decades he has lived there.
The island has a weather station which recorded winds of 111mph on Thursday evening, before a power cut which lasted until Friday morning, Mr Little, 51, said.
“At about 6pm it just got louder and louder and the waves were picking up, the spray was shooting up in the air.
“There was a loud crash, a loud bang and suddenly our power went.”
Mr Little added: “We went out this morning and got our chainsaw equipment out and started to clear the castle path, we had to make sure it was easily accessible in case of emergencies.
“We started at 8.30am and finished around 4.30pm.”
About 80 to 100 trees were brought down, most of the trees on the island, he said.
Mr Little said: “It’s more devastating for us as a gardener seeing the hard work you’ve done over many years, then everything’s wiped out within about six hours.
“We’ve had bad weather before, we’ve had various storms over the years but (in the past) we lose about six or seven trees.
“I’m heartbroken as well for all the gardeners.”
None of the island’s residents were hurt, but some of the buildings had structural damage, he added.
Mr Little said the immediate clean-up would probably take three months, but it would be 18 months before the area was regenerated.
