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Jan and I were newlyweds, and although we were poor, we made the
most of our honeymoon. We spent a week at a South coast caravan site in England,
in October of 1987. The weather was warm and sunny, but forecasters warned of a
break in the weather. Little did we know that it would turn into the worst
hurricane in recorded English history.
As I checked my luminous watch at 1 AM, I noticed that the sky was blacker than
I had ever seen it. The wind was not just gusty, it was relentless and getting
stronger by the minute. The noise was a constant whine that was gradually
increasing in pitch. I told Jan that it looked like we were in for a gale. We
moved to the window and as we did, the wind pressure caused the frame to blow
out and across the room with a crack like a pistol shot. We were showered with
glass fragments but thankfully were not cut.
The wind was so strong that it blew all the moveable items in the caravan
against the back wall. I knew that we had to get out of there, and I grabbed Jan
and threw us both to the floor. I told her that we needed the rope and crawled
across the floor to find it. I tied the rope around our waists and we put on our
anoraks. I suggested that we try to make our way out on our hands and knees.
The wind was blowing off the sea at 80 miles per hour, and it was a struggle to
get outside. We inched our way forward on our stomachs until we reached an
outcrop of rock where I secured the rope. We lay there, exhausted, but in
comparative safety. The gale had become a hurricane, and over the next five
hours, the wind gusts reached 120 miles per hour. Our caravan, along with most
of the others, was destroyed and became matchwood. The waves smashed against the
quay, and inland, we could hear the thunder of heavy trees crashing to the
ground.
The hurricane lasted until first light and when it was over, we learned that 20
people had died and 5 million homes were blacked out. Up to 15 million trees
were destroyed, and the total damage was estimated at 1 billion pounds.
Miraculously, we found our bicycles and some of our possessions three fields
away.
In conclusion, the hurricane was the worst in recorded English history, but Jan
and I were lucky to survive. Our love for each other was all that mattered, and
even though we lost most of our belongings, we still had each other. |
