Remembering the Great Storm of 1987
What happened to make this storm so special? Why do so many people remember it? Isabel Sheppard asked her grandfather to share his story as an off-duty linesman with a front-row view of the drama.
The night of the storm
Although many people remember the storm’s aftermath, very few actually recall the exact event. This is because the storm happened whilst people were sleeping. My grandad only recalls a few details of the night such as the sound of the wind howling and, most distinctly, the sound of the roof. Due to the way it was constructed, it would lift a couple of inches up and then slam back down with a huge bang. Thankfully, this left only a few cracks. The irony of this all is that a woman frantically phoned the BBC the day before and said that there would be a hurricane that night – she was laughed at and dismissed but the actual event was devastating.
The next day and damage caused
On the following morning, there was plenty of news on the radio. My aunt decided that she wanted to go and see if her college was open (which it obviously wasn’t) but the drive to it was not a straightforward as usual. Many detours had to be made as the road was blocked by fallen trees and parts of walls that had been sucked off by the fluctuating pressure of the winds.
Other common damage included trees along the edges of fields being blown down or snapped in half, flooding and removed roof tiles. Fallen trees probably caused the most damage – from uprooting cables and graves to crushing cars. There was a fair amount of local damage such as the local area having no electricity for 2-2.5 weeks and Hailsham library being partly crushed. Woodlands were interestingly damaged - they’d look fine until you reached 50 metres in, at which point you would find a flattened circle or square of trees approximately 100 metres across. The other side would look perfectly fine too; it was only patches that looked like they had been hit by a tornado. Some woodlands were still dangerous years later as falling trees had been supported by others and only fell when they were disturbed.
Repairs
The workload was so high that help was asked for from other areas. For example, approximately 200 linesmen came down from Scotland, army groups offered their support and ordinary people volunteered. Everyone was accommodated in a caravan park and supplied with food and resources. All the teams used different tools so it took a while to figure out how to work together but they were incredibly efficient once they did. Other companies made many profits out of offering to repair roofs but making it seem worse than it was so they’d be paid more.
Isabel Sheppard, Year 11
The night of the storm
Although many people remember the storm’s aftermath, very few actually recall the exact event. This is because the storm happened whilst people were sleeping. My grandad only recalls a few details of the night such as the sound of the wind howling and, most distinctly, the sound of the roof. Due to the way it was constructed, it would lift a couple of inches up and then slam back down with a huge bang. Thankfully, this left only a few cracks. The irony of this all is that a woman frantically phoned the BBC the day before and said that there would be a hurricane that night – she was laughed at and dismissed but the actual event was devastating.
The next day and damage caused
On the following morning, there was plenty of news on the radio. My aunt decided that she wanted to go and see if her college was open (which it obviously wasn’t) but the drive to it was not a straightforward as usual. Many detours had to be made as the road was blocked by fallen trees and parts of walls that had been sucked off by the fluctuating pressure of the winds.
Other common damage included trees along the edges of fields being blown down or snapped in half, flooding and removed roof tiles. Fallen trees probably caused the most damage – from uprooting cables and graves to crushing cars. There was a fair amount of local damage such as the local area having no electricity for 2-2.5 weeks and Hailsham library being partly crushed. Woodlands were interestingly damaged - they’d look fine until you reached 50 metres in, at which point you would find a flattened circle or square of trees approximately 100 metres across. The other side would look perfectly fine too; it was only patches that looked like they had been hit by a tornado. Some woodlands were still dangerous years later as falling trees had been supported by others and only fell when they were disturbed.
Repairs
The workload was so high that help was asked for from other areas. For example, approximately 200 linesmen came down from Scotland, army groups offered their support and ordinary people volunteered. Everyone was accommodated in a caravan park and supplied with food and resources. All the teams used different tools so it took a while to figure out how to work together but they were incredibly efficient once they did. Other companies made many profits out of offering to repair roofs but making it seem worse than it was so they’d be paid more.
Isabel Sheppard, Year 11