Thing is, neither Norfolk nor the American Atlantic seaboard have to worry about westerly gales, particularly from the S.W. The end of the historic street in which I have lived in Penzance since 1988 comes out on the Promenade which carries a main traffic artery and is regularly closed when high winds coincide with a high tide. These days the effects can often last for two or three hours before and after high tide too. and can happen in virtually any month, which certainly was never the case until the last decade. Virtually every time Dawlish gets hit, PZ does too, plus plenty of other times, as we face the Atlantic rather than the genteel English Channel. At times Penzance station, tracks and environs get flooded, but rock armour defences ensure that's not too often. All joking and cynicism aside, the Dawlish situation is diabolical if allowed to continue, unless you (by which I mean the government) are prepared to contemplate no trains further west than Exeter/Newton Abbot for a period of, quite possibly, several years. And then see how many Tory seats are retained in the S.W.!
