Storm Babet onslaught washes businesses out to sea as owner left 'devastated'

19 October 2023 , 08:46

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The Soak Lifestyle shop, which was in a shipping container, was washed away in Storm Babet (Image: DEVON LIVE/BPM MEDIA)

Storm Babet has begun to unleash destruction after huge waves left a man's livelihood crashing into the sea.

In Devon, a man described being put through "one of the most devastating nights" of his life as he watched half of his business wash away during adverse conditions. The owners of Soak Lifestyle at Abbey Sands Beach in Torquay, Devon say they "lost everything" when their watersports container was washed away into the sea early on Wednesday.

They said they worked until the early hours of the morning in an attempt to salvage what was left, reports Plymouth Live. It comes after the firm's beach bar hut was also "bashed like a washing machine" during Storm Babet.

• For all of the latest updates as Storm Babet rages across the UK click here for our live coverage.

A coffee shop belonging to the same business owner was also damaged by the storm in Torquay (DEVON LIVE/BPM MEDIA)

In a video update posted to their Facebook page on October 18, owner Sean White said: "Sadly last night we completely lost our business to the storm. One of our shipping containers, the water sports one, ended up in the ocean and the other one has been bashed like a washing machine. We've lost everything and that's totally devastating and we're lacking words amongst all the emotion right now."

In an earlier video posted the night before, Sean described being subjected to "one of the most devastating nights of my life" and urgently appealed to crane operators, who could help them retrieve one of the shipping containers before it was also washed away. South West Crane Hire came to their aid, and he later shared that the coffee hut had been retrieved and was waiting to be taken away.

Gales, snow and rain to batter country today with 80mph wind gusts

It comes as a rare red warning was issued by the Met Office for parts of Scotland today and tomorrow, where four months' worth of rain is expected to fall in a single day, while there are also amber and yellow alerts in place.

Forecasters say a huge swathe of the country will be hit by torrential downpour, and some areas of central and eastern Scotland could see up to 250mm of "exceptional rainfall" - the equivalent of nearly 10 inches. High winds of 70mph are also expected to hit some coastal areas.

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas