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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2007 14:58:39 GMT
In case you'd forgotten, it was 20 years ago this week that the October "hurricane" happened. Here in East Anglia, we had it pretty bad, as did many other places. Lowestoft got gusts of 120mph and Rendlesham forest near Ipswich lost 7000 acres of trees. I was in the loft this morning and I stumbled accross some old photo's I took in the aftermath of the storm (I think it was about 3 days after - the storm was on a Thursday night and I think these were taken on the Sunday). They're not great quality because they're 20 years old and were scanned in. However, I though I'd share them with you. I'd be interested in seeing any other pictures anyone has and hearing any stories anyone has of that wild and scary night. My doctor's surgery  Downed trees   Flooded meadows and damaged trees  This is usually a pasture with cows grazing and the bridge is usually about 10ft above a small pond  Another shot of the same meadow area - you usually can't see any water from this view.  FA x |
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Post by flowersfriend on Oct 20, 2007 16:03:51 GMT
A wicked storm then, thanks for the pics Andy... its scary what nature can do.
ff xx
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2007 16:18:23 GMT
A wicked storm then, thanks for the pics Andy... its scary what nature can do. This was the storm that Michael Fish famously announced on the Beeb weather report "A lady telephoned the BBC earlier today and said there was a hurricane on the way. Well, don't worry, there isn't......." Cue the greatest storm of the century !! It is quite frightning what nature can do, which gives me an idea thanks ff.......maybe this thread could be used as one for "the awesome power of nature" not just for the October 87 hurricane. Any pictures of other storm damage, tornado's etc welcome ! FA x |
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Post by Ruthie on Oct 20, 2007 19:07:00 GMT
Haven't got any pics but I remember it well. Awake all night worrying about the chimneys (which were Ok as it happens). Then set off for work in the morning. tried 2 of the 4 possible ways to get out of the village only to find them blocked by fallen trees. Then it finally occurred to me......it's bl***y dangerous out here!!!! So I went home. It was my friend and colleagues 43rd Birthday which had to be cancelled 'cos hardly anyone got to work. Funnily enough I went to her retirement do last week, on her 63rd birthday. Thankfully no wind trouble there!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2007 19:21:12 GMT
To say I remember the Great Storm would be a little bit of a lie.......I somehow managed to sleep through it - honestly didn't hear a thing!!
But, I did wonder why I had to climb over so many uprooted trees on my way to work the following morning.......I honestly wondered what the hell had been going on!!!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2007 19:27:58 GMT
GH were you in a coma or something ? ;D
I was woken about 3am by the dustbin flying across the garden and hitting the shed. I actually got up and went outside but it was wild so I didn't stay out long. The next morning I managed to get to work 7 miles away (at Lavenham, GH) but it took about an hour on the minibus as we dodged round all the fallen trees. When I got to work, the factory (this was in the days pre HM Revenue & Customs) had no power and the offices, where I worked, had a tree on them ! We hung around for a little while and then got sent home. I remember the devastation well. It was pretty much everywhere you went for weeks on end afterwards.
FA x
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2007 19:38:26 GMT
I may have had a gin or two FA, but I don't remember slipping into a coma!! I was living in London at the time, my usual walk to work took me up a few very swish tree lined Avenues......only the following morning the Avenues were abit less swish looking, I had to climb over bloody great Oak trees that were laying in the middle of the road (having wrecked cars and houses when the fell). Everyone at work also couldn't believe that I'd slept through it ;D And thanks for reminding me about Lavenham FA - such a beautiful place. Got any photos for the'Travelling Camera'  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2007 19:47:41 GMT
And thanks for reminding me about Lavenham FA - such a beautiful place. Got any photos for the'Travelling Camera' No. Well, not yet anyway. One of these days, I'll go over there and take a few. FA x |
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Post by owainglyndwr on Oct 20, 2007 20:06:00 GMT
I loved my 6 months in the Dunwich area ... money really did grow on trees back then ;D
On a less happy note my wife's family always hate the mention of '87 because her cousin was killed in Eastbourne whilst working on the power lines after some imcompetent in control said the power was off ...
BUT great pics FA
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Post by Jardack on Oct 21, 2007 7:38:51 GMT
I'm another one that slept through it GH  Although in my case it was because I was poorly with a throat and chest infection! I remember people coming in to see me the next day and saying about this storm and all the trees down etc, but by the time I got up and out again it was all back to normal. Can't believe it was 20 years ago tho. Jardack |
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Post by Ladygardener on Oct 21, 2007 8:11:21 GMT
it's hard to believe these 20 years have gone so quickly, I remember seeing it on the news
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Post by andy on Oct 21, 2007 9:11:15 GMT
Another candidate here for the "i slept through the storm" award.
My mum woke me up at 6am saying the dog kennel roof was in the pond !!!!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2007 9:56:41 GMT
I am relieved to hear that I am not the only one who slept through it ;D
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Post by prodigal gardener on Oct 21, 2007 15:08:55 GMT
I didn't sleep through it, I was living in Basildon and my eldest was only a few months old. The storm blew her bedroom window open. Scared the doo dah out of me  . I didn't know I could move that fast She slept through it mind you  typically I couldn't get back to sleep and remember having a terrible day the next day cos she was full a beans and I was knackered ;D It did make a right mess of Basildon golf course and my parents in Rayleigh lost a lot of lovely old trees. It was very scary - dunno how the yanks manage with hurricanes and tornadoes, our weather might be a pain in the bum but its fairly tame compared to what some folk have to live with innit ;D |
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Post by Cheerypeabrain on Oct 21, 2007 15:18:36 GMT
My OH was working abroad in 87...I was on my own in the house with our 2 little boys who couldn't sleep because of the howling gale....We had hot chocolate and snuggled up in my bed..so I remember the storm quite well, although I don't think it was as bad here in Leicester as it was in the South.
I do remember that it was an extraordinarily windy week (?)..I took my lads to school and youngest was swept off his feet...good job I was holding onto him as he'd have blown away! (He was 6 years old)
We just lost a few tiles off the roof...so we got off quite lightly.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2007 15:26:03 GMT
i remember it well. i was very warm in my bedroom which i shared with my sister .she hd a friend to stay over for the night so all three of us were awake all night. it was so warm in the room that we kept opening the little window.every time we did it nearly got blown off. next day i got up and ready for school as usual. mum got in the car to go off to work and returned five mins later to say there was no way out of the village because trees had fallen down. our street looked like normal so it was very hard to understand what all the fuss was about. we listened to the radio to find out if our schools were shut and hoooray they were. it didnt occur to me that people might have been hurt as mostly everything around us looked normal.!!!! i was amazed later in the day when my mum put the news on.so many people had damaged houses etc. we just thought it was a windy night not a hurricane!!!!!! |
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Post by Plocket on Oct 21, 2007 15:55:55 GMT
I wish I'd recorded it! I lived in Bromley (Kent) at the time and I remember spending the night huddled up in mum's bed with her. Dad was in Spain and was supposed to be flying back that night. My sister slept through it!!! At one point we looked out of the window and saw a dustbin literally flying down the road - not touching the ground at all, and our car porch blew away. I remember trying to talk into work the next day to get to the station only to see that all the trees along the road had been uprooted damaging the pavements and the road. I couldn't get to work for a day or so due to damage to railway lines either. Most of all though I remember that Sevenoaks hasn't got seven oak trees any more - very sad. My brother lived in Oxford at the time and said that they'd had very little wind - and OH still doesn't appreciate that the South of England CAN get bad weather |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2007 20:32:11 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2007 21:11:52 GMT
Bloody Hell FA The picture of the building and the one with the bridge really show just how bad it was. |
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Post by Biggles on Oct 22, 2007 18:38:57 GMT
Great Photographs--of Then and Now- Just shows how nature can recover from devastation like that.
Here in the Northeast we didn't have it as bad as the South. Thank Goodness
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Post by retropwr on Oct 22, 2007 19:37:55 GMT
I was working on night shift that night and had great fun trying to get home in the morning, every road I went down had a tree across it. (looks like the doctor's surgery still has the same green curtains up at the window ) |
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Although in my case it was because I was poorly with a throat and chest infection!
. I didn't know I could move that fast 
typically I couldn't get back to sleep and remember having a terrible day the next day cos she was full a beans and I was knackered ;D It did make a right mess of Basildon golf course and my parents in Rayleigh lost a lot of lovely old trees. It was very scary - dunno how the yanks manage with hurricanes and tornadoes, our weather might be a pain in the bum but its fairly tame compared to what some folk have to live with innit ;D
