On the night of 30/31 January 1953 there was a screaming gale of NW'ly wind
around the Northern Isles which caused a storm surge down the North Sea
causing serious flooding along the East Anglia and Kent coasts and across
into the mainland Europe low-lying coastal countries accompanied by
considerable loss of life.
I was a 13 year old boy growing up in Orkney at the time and remember it
very well.
--
MCC
http://www.cloustons.plus.com/weather

MCC wrote:
On the night of 30/31 January 1953 there was a screaming gale of NW'ly wind
around the Northern Isles which caused a storm surge down the North Sea
causing serious flooding along the East Anglia and Kent coasts and across
into the mainland Europe low-lying coastal countries accompanied by
considerable loss of life.
I was a 13 year old boy growing up in Orkney at the time and remember it
very well.
-------------------------------------
My friend was a six year old living on Canvey Island. His and my local
Newsapaper have a large spread on it and an interview with him. His
father was a fireman on the Island and it was only in recent years he
could talk about it and even then not some of the things he witnessed.
Of course it was a relatively small closely knit community. Some
incredible storiess in there and one of the underlying ones was the
number that died from the cold as well as drowning.
Dave, S.Essex

On 30/01/2013 23:24, Dave Cornwell wrote:
MCC wrote:
On the night of 30/31 January 1953 there was a screaming gale of NW'ly
wind
around the Northern Isles which caused a storm surge down the North Sea
causing serious flooding along the East Anglia and Kent coasts and across
into the mainland Europe low-lying coastal countries accompanied by
considerable loss of life.
I was a 13 year old boy growing up in Orkney at the time and remember it
very well.
-------------------------------------
My friend was a six year old living on Canvey Island. His and my local
Newsapaper have a large spread on it and an interview with him. His
father was a fireman on the Island and it was only in recent years he
could talk about it and even then not some of the things he witnessed.
Of course it was a relatively small closely knit community. Some
incredible storiess in there and one of the underlying ones was the
number that died from the cold as well as drowning.
Dave, S.Essex


Britain's Worst Peace Time Disaster
An 18 foot storm surge over topped every defence there was.
307 people died
24,000 homes were damaged or destroyed
Over 30,000 people were evacuated

Start he
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_flood_of_1953
and then put "1953 floods" into Google.

Really puts today's flooding into perspective. BBC Look East are doing a
series on it during their news programmes, and Inside Out (BBC East)
gave it a 10 minute slot on Monday. Surprised the TV companies haven't
commissioned a full 1 hour documentary on it. There's a memorial service
in Chelmsford Cathedral tomorrow (Thursday), along with special prayer
services along the east coast of England and Scotland at the places most
affected.

jim, Northampton

I was a 3 yr old living in Felixstowe. Fortunately not a sea level, but remember my older sister being sent in the morning to buy bread from a bakers on the seafront road and reporting it was flooded. Many people perished when the storm surge inundated houses on the road down to the docks.

Len
Wembury, Devon

I was a 3 yr old living in Felixstowe. Fortunately not a sea level, but remember my older sister being sent in the morning to buy bread from a bakers on the seafront road and reporting it was flooded. Many people perished when the storm surge inundated houses on the road down to the docks.

Len
Wembury, Devon

On Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:26:28 +0000
jbm wrote:

On 30/01/2013 23:24, Dave Cornwell wrote:
MCC wrote:
On the night of 30/31 January 1953 there was a screaming gale of
NW'ly wind
around the Northern Isles which caused a storm surge down the
North Sea causing serious flooding along the East Anglia and Kent
coasts and across into the mainland Europe low-lying coastal
countries accompanied by considerable loss of life.
I was a 13 year old boy growing up in Orkney at the time and
remember it very well.
-------------------------------------
My friend was a six year old living on Canvey Island. His and my
local Newsapaper have a large spread on it and an interview with
him. His father was a fireman on the Island and it was only in
recent years he could talk about it and even then not some of the
things he witnessed. Of course it was a relatively small closely
knit community. Some incredible storiess in there and one of the
underlying ones was the number that died from the cold as well as
drowning. Dave, S.Essex


Britain's Worst Peace Time Disaster
An 18 foot storm surge over topped every defence there was.
307 people died
24,000 homes were damaged or destroyed
Over 30,000 people were evacuated

Start he
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_flood_of_1953
and then put "1953 floods" into Google.

Really puts today's flooding into perspective. BBC Look East are
doing a series on it during their news programmes, and Inside Out
(BBC East) gave it a 10 minute slot on Monday. Surprised the TV
companies haven't commissioned a full 1 hour documentary on it.
There's a memorial service in Chelmsford Cathedral tomorrow
(Thursday), along with special prayer services along the east coast
of England and Scotland at the places most affected.


Both BBC and Channel 5 broadcast hour-long(?) documentaries ten years
ago. I would dearly love to see the Channel 5 one again and, given the
chance, would record and keep it. The BBC one is one I wish to never
see again and could well have done without seeing it the first time.

An interesting point I recall from the Channel 5 program was that there
was a sort of "Maginot Line" effect where some villages had sea-defences
to the east, between them and the sea, but the water came in behind
them and surged in from the west.


--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks.
Feeling stressed and frustrated? Try a short session of contemplative
meditation. Or kick a ballboy. (https://twitter.com/GreySkyThinking)

In article ,
MCC writes:
On the night of 30/31 January 1953 there was a screaming gale of NW'ly wind
around the Northern Isles which caused a storm surge down the North Sea
causing serious flooding along the East Anglia and Kent coasts and across
into the mainland Europe low-lying coastal countries accompanied by
considerable loss of life.
I was a 13 year old boy growing up in Orkney at the time and remember it
very well.

The worst weather disaster of the 20th century in the UK, and maybe
since the Great Storm of 1703 or even longer. I was four, then as now
living in Surrey, and given my age and location it's not surprising that
I don't have any memory of it at all.
--
John Hall

"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
Oscar Wilde

Whilst this was a bit before my time, I am always surprised how little coverage the event gets compared with Michael Fish's "Hurricane" of October 1987.

A repeat of this event would potentially be very serious for the coastline and rivers round here (Lowestoft, Southwold). With our soft geology and lack of height, a "standard" red warning would not really be sufficient.

One day of course it will happen, and I am not sure that we would be properly prepared.

Brac

On Wednesday, 30 January 2013 22:24:51 UTC, MCC wrote:
On the night of 30/31 January 1953 there was a screaming gale of NW'ly wind
around the Northern Isles which caused a storm surge down the North Sea
causing serious flooding along the East Anglia and Kent coasts and across
into the mainland Europe low-lying coastal countries accompanied by
considerable loss of life.

Quite a nice retrospective from a company I used to work for here (and yes I suppose I'm biased in saying that!)

http://www.rms.com/publications/1953...rospective.pdf

Richard

On 30/01/2013 22:24, MCC wrote:

I was a 13 year old boy growing up in Orkney at the time and remember it
very well.

What are your recollections from Orkney please?

Mark