Section of Brighton’s West Pier Falls Into the Sea

A section of Brighton’s historic West Pier fell into the sea on Friday as Storm Austen brought strong winds and rough seas to southern England. Footage published October 23 shows part of the structure breaking away, but reports do not establish how much the storm contributed to the collapse rather than the pier’s long deterioration. The West Pier, in Brighton, East Sussex, has been closed since 1975. Two arson attacks in 2003 destroyed much of the structure, and its exposed remains have continued to deteriorate. The West Pier Trust has warned that the ruins are dangerous and should not be approached. Professor Fred Grey, an honorary historian at the West Pier Trust, said the remains had been further eroded by nature and would eventually disappear beneath the waves. The exact condition of the structure after Friday’s collapse was not detailed in the reports. The collapse came amid wider disruption from Storm Austen. National Grid said more than 31,000 homes in southwest England were without power by midafternoon Friday. It said engineers had restored electricity to more than 52,000 properties since the storm began. The figures describe outages at that point and total...