Storming on

Well, according to Wikipedia

The Great Storm of 1987 occurred on October 15 and 16, 1987, when an unusually strong weather system caused hurricane force winds to hit much of the south of England. It was the worst storm to hit England since 1703 and was responsible for the deaths of approximately 23 people.

It seems incredible that that was 18 years ago. GF remembers it as if it was only a couple of years back. Abiding memories of that night:

• The house actually vibrating and humming in the wind
• Hearing the dustbin blow away down the road
• Going out (in pyjamas) to retrieve the dustbin and realising its lid had blown elsewhere
• Tracking down the lid just as all the lights failed
• Going back to bed listening to the chaos.
• Waking up to the news of the devastation
• Missing a business meeting for the only time in his career.
• The storm caused substantial damage over much of England, downing some 15 million trees (including six of the seven famous oak trees in Sevenoaks and most of the trees making up Chanctonbury Ring), blocking roads and railways and leaving widespread structural damage to buildings
• Several hundred thousand people were left without power, which was not fully restored until more than two weeks later. Local electric utility officials later said they lost more wires in that single storm than they had in the preceding decade

[File under: Storm, Weather]