The great storm

Didn't know where to put this so I thought as it was a great event, I'd put it here.
Who remembers October 87, not sure of the day, and I dont think it was felt much in northern areas, ( would have been a gentle breeze up there) but down south it was really something.
Cant believe it was nearly 20 yrs ago.
These two were blown to an angle of 45 deg and left there, a catalpa in the foreground and a maple behind. They have both just carried on growing as if nothing happened.

 

Hi, pete. Yeah, I remember it. Took me 3hrs. to get back from work, (nightshift in a Foundry) I yhink half the trees round here were down. You can still see some of the damage that was caused by it. I took quite a few piccies of the damage but I still don't know how to post pictures so I can't put them up. :confused:

 

We did have it rough up here in the n.w the whole of Warrington was gridlocked all the motorways shut and guess what I was the only cyclist riding through it to work,your right Pete we are dead hard up North don't notice these things,in Scotland they are harder still they wear kilts even in winter. :D

 

Oh - gosh yes!!! It hit us early hours - I had only moved away from my home town two weeks earlier as my husband had been re-located - it was really bad - I was so young, and we sat up all night listening to the roof - we though it was going to come off!!! The night had started off eerily quiet and all we could hear were helicopters - the Navy were moving a lot of them - obviously to safer areas, then "BANG" literally, the storm hit!! We had no electricity or phones. My husband had a motorbike, but took my car to work in the morning and when he got into Portsmouth a large 10 story office block had lost all its windows and the road was covered in glass. All I wanted to do was go home to my Mum - but couldn't even talk to her!!!! There were so many trees down around us, hardly any roads were open and the roads were totally covered with branches and debris!!!
I remember going to the New Forest the following year, and inside some of the enclosures there would be huge areas where the trees had just been flattened!! Really spooky!!! It was something like the 16th October?? :( :(

 

One of my memories is going outside just as it was getting light, there was a loud roaring sound everywhere and flashes of what i thought at the time was lightning.
It turned out to be caused by all the downed power cables. Roof tiles everywhere and hardly a single leaf left on anything that was still standing.

Walnut, was that really the October 87 one you remember as I was under the impression that it didn't hit so hard up north.
I remember another blow a year or so later that really hit the north hard.

 

I also remember it but we were not affected although our cottage was quite open to the elements looking up to the Chilterns. We were quite near Chequers and there was complete devastation in the forests nearby toward Great Missenden.

Agree, pete, doesn't seem like 20 years ago ...

 

The next hard blow was in '89. It didn't do so much damage down here because all the vulnerable trees had already been blown down!! I was on nights again. We still had Power Cables down and plenty of fences (mine included) flattened.

 

I too remember it well. I was living in Hockley near Southend at the time. Woke about 4am to the sound of the wind. Twas still dark, and as there was little I could do - after shutting the lean to conservatory door, after ensuring the cats were not in it - I went back to bed and slept after a fashion til I had to get up for work. Trees down, fences flapping in the wind or sailing in the wind, there was damage everywhere.

If you remember Pete the Hurrican of 87 was followed by the worst snow storm ever in January 88 which brought everything to a halt - road, rail etc . I had to walk with some difficulty to to work at the hospital - it was a complete nightmare for quite a while - pretty though :D

 

The worst gales we have had was this year 7 people were killed in the n.w. which ever year was the worst for bad weather, rain, snow, wind I never missed a day riding through it.

 

Oh yes Fran, I remember the freeze the following January, it snowed here for two days solid, and was sub zero for days.
Helicopters were called in just to move food to villages that were only a few miles from main towns but behind drifts 12 ft deep.

That was our last really bad winter, I cant help thinking we are due another.

 

Pete, I remember the 87 storm, I had to drive to work alongside a water reservoir and all the boats had been blown out and were lying alongside the road. Also cajary, the 89 one was the day after my first son was born, took me 3 hours (should have been about 45 minutes) to get to the hospital, wife was completely oblivious in the hospital ward.

 

Not sure I remember that winter as being especially bad - if you exclude the hurrican and the snow storm that is :D :D

But maybe your right - some of the extremes do seem to come in 10 year cycles. Hot dry summers, 1976, (86 - I disremember), 96 and 2006. Not so sure about the winters though.

 

Fran, on second thoughts the winter that I am thinking about was Jan 87, before the so called hurricane