The Orkney Hurricane

A regular US reader of the blog, Genknit, has just written to let us know that she is safe after the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. We were pleased and relieved to hear this.


I could not help but think about the so called Orkney Hurricane of 1952 and the destructive gales which followed the next year. Unlike Hurricane Harvey, the two storms - miraculously- claimed no lives but the damage and trauma was immense.

 

 

The remains of the Wyre Shop at Helziegatha after the 1952 Hurricane

Orcadians were unsure of the exact wind speed of the 1952 hurricane as the wind recorders at Costa Head in Evie were broken after exceeding their 120mph limit. Estimates were made of 135mph in places.

'I wakened and I wondered what was wrong. It blowed and blowed and blowed. I lay on, for I thowt that if I wakened Jock, he wid go outside and hid wasna safe - so as long as the kye didna boggle I wid bide in... we were lucky. The (hen) hooses were end on tae the wind.'

Sarah Gaddie of Holm recalling the storm

Many were not so lucky, however, and the thriving egg industry which provided so many Orcadians with income was seriously damaged over night, with hundreds and hundreds of hen houses and their occupants strewn over Orkney by the ferocious winds.

Hurricane Damage, 1952

'We woke up to devastation. We could see what we thought to be reddish-brown snowdrifts along the dykes. What it was in fact was dead and dying Rhode Island Reds. My father went out and managed to breathe life into a few who were merely stunned but I can remember my parents shock and horror, with the added worry of knowing they'd lost such a valuable source of income.'

Morag Russell of Shapinsay

Flooding was the main problem in 1953 as the sea defences were battered in many locations, turning streets into rivers.

Junction Road after the 1953 Storm.
(Original photo taken by S. Twatt)

Shore Street after the 1953 Storm - the water mains were completely exposed.
(Original photo taken by S. Twatt)

Orcadians are known for their grit and resilience and the County, with the aid of hastily set up aid funds and some government assistance, was soon up and running again. People were even able to joke about some stories from the storm such as the gentleman bowled over fields in his wooden house only to emerge clad in nothing but underpants. Or the farmer whose dwelling's roof was torn off only to be quickly replaced by another one. He took this as proof that 'the Lord is kind'.

Texans and Lousianans are also known for their grit and resilience and we send the survivors of Hurricane Harvey our thoughts and heartfelt best wishes in their time of need.

Information taken from:

The Orkney Hurricane - R. G. Ross

How the Orkney Egg Industry was affected by the Great Gale of 1952 - Simon Carmichael

The Orcadian book of the 20th Century - Howard Hazell

Orkney Sound Archive 7.

Glossary for non-Orcadians/Scots! :

kye - cows

didna - didn't

bide - stay

boggle - bellow

hid - it

wasna - wasn't

 

Storm Report

"One of the most violent tornadoes in Kirkwall ever remembered, which continued without intermission from sun-set (about three o'clock) the whole night."

"Many boats were also damaged, and some driven to sea"

"Several houses were partly unroofed, peat stacks and cot houses thrown down, and the weather-cock of St Magnus Cathedral blown into the steeple, although it weighed two stone of copper."

These are not quotes about yesterday's Storm Gertrude, but they are actually from an article in the Edinburgh Evening Courant dated 24th January 1803! One of three editions purchased by the Orkney Archive in 1994.

The article goes on to say:

"During this hurricane, a ship was wrecked in the island of Papa Stronsay, name unknown, Capt. Christian Faralson Leyre; crew saved, but the vessel and part of the cargo damaged.

From the 1st of January to the 11th it blew constantly strong gales of wind from the S.E. attended with rain, snow and sleet, during which the sun never made its appearance.

The ship Daedalus, from the east country for Dublin, J MALLET master, is totally wrecked in the village of Dearness; cargo greatly damaged - Four of the crew drowned, two of them mates, and brothers. One of these poor fellows got ashore, and as his brother was climbing up the rock after him, a huge wave pulled him back into the sea; the survivor swam in to his assistance, and both perished in each other's arms.

A large sloop, miserably wrecked, from its shattered appearance, without any cargo or person on board was driven on shore on the Wart Holm. Two sailors, supposed to have come in with this wreck, were found dead in this uninhabited island, owing to cold and hunger."

Wart Holm is a tiny island off the south west tip of Westray. This image is from Ordnance Survey sheet no. LXXIX, dated 1903.

 

 

More sad news:
"A brig, in the same unhappy situation, and not a single person on board, has come ashore on the island of Stronsay. 

A sloop, said to belong to Caithness, is drove ashore at Lopness, in the island of Sanday.

A foreign ship, totally unknown, has come ashore in numerous splinters on the north sands of Quayness, in the island of Sanday, without any living person on board, or any bodies to be seen. Her cargo is drifting to all quarters, but exertions are making to preserve as much as possible, by the Admiral, for the benefit of all concerned."

Archive Reference: D1/295/3