WOW! Is it really 28 tonight years since.....

[jakarta]

Being a Northern Monkey (at the time) I can confirm the mayhem in Cheshire was confined to one of my interwoven fence panels lifting and the loss of a dustbin lid.

 

[Miami Seagull]

I was on police duty that night in Littlehampton!! Longest shift ever, learnt to use a chainsaw, saw roofs lift off and fly...amazing night. I have since been through a number of hurricanes in the US and Caribbean but never witnessed anything quite like that night.

 

[The Andy Naylor Fan Club]

I slept most of the way through it but my father decided to wake me as he was unsure if the roof was going to stay attached to the house. As there was no power it was very eerie just sitting their, saying very little to each other, listening to the gales and watching the occasional roof tile,tree branch or bin go flying past the window. The Level looked like a frickin war zone with the number of trees that fell.

 

[GT49er]

In hospital undergoing major surgery. Was unconscious throughout the storm and missed it all!

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I was in my first term at Uni in Portsmouth, and I went to Fifth Avenue nightclub on Southsea seafront that night. Breezy doesn't really describe how it was that evening.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Slept through it myself (in the middle of Brighton having had a skinful and sleeping in a loft conversion a few feet from a tree coming through the roof) .

Thinking i'd done quite well, I was one of the few to get to work the next day to take responsibility for a major financial institution cocking up big time as a result, and making the national press. Somehow managed to get through it, but not the best day of my life

 

[inland seagull]

I was in Northampton where it was only a bit windy, drove home on Friday afternoon and couldnt believe my eyes, St Peters Church was no longer surrounded by trees!

 

[lawros left foot]

Slept through it myself (in the middle of Brighton having had a skinful and sleeping in a loft conversion a few feet from a tree coming through the roof) .

Thinking i'd done quite well, I was one of the few to get to work the next day to take responsibility for a major financial institution cocking up big time as a result, and making the national press. Somehow managed to get through it, but not the best day of my life

Was there a major financial crash of some kind on the Friday? I seem to remember a Black Friday headline on the news on the Friday night

 

[WATFORD zero]

Was there a major financial crash of some kind on the Friday? I seem to remember a Black Friday headline on the news on the Friday night

No, this was a little more regionalised (although it was one of the major banks)

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

I was sharing a flat in Worthing with my now brother in law. We'd been out to montague street and were staggering back pissed and all I remember was all the burglar alarms going off on the shops. Fast forward t next morning massive hangover and no power. We lived opposite a park and all the trees were down no work as no trains so spent the day wandering around Worthing admiring the carnage. I vividly remember the old red phone boxes outside the library all laying on top of each other. They must have weighed a ton each and were uprooted and the fishing boats blown off the beach and one sitting on the wall of the wine lodge and shingle everywhere. Got pissed that day too.

 

[fat old seagull]

I slept through it all, when I got up andlooked out of the bedroom window and thought we'd been nuked!

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Weird times. A few days later, 28 years ago, my dad died. Last week, my son left home (under some duress, the feckless 29 year old moon gazer). I wonder what will happen in 2053? It'll be a ****ing miracle if I'm still alive to find out

 

[Theatre of Trees]

It was a Thursday night, I used to get paid weekly on that day and go out and spend it. Remember how mild it was around ten and wondering whether to take a jacket. Went to Smugglers on Middle Street got ratted and the first inclination that anything was up was when the bouncers opened the door to let us out at 2am. Just as I was about to step out two metal bins went flying up the street. Walked back to Hollingbury Road that night passing The Level and stopping to watch the trees come down. When the second one came down we decided to get out of there quickly. My mate lived on Vere Road which left me walking back to my house on my own, by then in the middle of the road because I could here things crashing to the ground. Got in about 2.45 which if I remember correctly was around the worst point of the storm, looked in the mirror and suddenly realised all my hair had been blown to one side as if I'd been next to a giant hairdryer. I could hear the wind whistling and the window rattling by the time the alcohol set in and sent me to sleep. I actually can't recall what I did the next day, something tells me work phoned but this wouldn't be the case if all the lines were down. Most likely stayed in bed nursing the hangover.

 

[portlock seagull]

I remember watching Blackadder, then then just after, the power went out. We got the power back 1 week later, about 30mins before Blackadder started. Really pleased I didn't miss an episode. Slept under the kitchen table that night, as I could feel the walls moving.

Yes, but I remember Battlestar Galactica on BBC 2 was shown at 6pm so we missed that because power had not resumed. Imagine kids, no power for a week. Imagine the chaos that would cause today. People would be climbing the walls after an hour and going nuts having to TALK to one another instead of FB, texting etc. A few might even discover the phone function on their mobiles!

So many memories. And you narrowly escaped death, a roof tile missed your head by a few inches and buried itself in the earth it was moving so fast. I can still remember that moment. Like a ninja throwing star, it would have cut through your skull like a knife in butter. Bottled only beer at the pub with candles for lights because pumps wouldn't work. And of course, at least two members of NSC will chuckle when I quote "Chris, get down from the tree..."

A night of absolute carnage, it made me very afraid of storms for a few years after. It was a long long night and I'll never forget the devastation unfolding at first light. Unbelievable. It brought the best out of people too. Everyone pulled together to help one another. Never witnessed community spirit before or since like it was for weeks after. Ed Stewart was trapped and no one could get to or away from Radio Mercury so he just kept broadcasting all night and into the morning as it became apparent we'd lived through an extraordinary event in history. Top broadcaster, Ed. we salute you Sir for your services that night keeping hundreds of thousands informed. Literally a lifeline during, at times, a terrifying few hours.

 

[ExmouthExile]

I got up in the night and put my hands on the back wall of my flat and I could feel it bending in with the force of the wind! I was in contact by CB radio (didn't have mobiles then) with my girlfriend who lived on her own in a roof apartment a few streets away and she was absolutely terrified, so I got dressed and walked to her place and that was pretty scary, all I could hear were bricks crashing to the ground all around me. Then I remember walking to work along Worthing seafront the morning after and the waves were breaking over the pier! The town looked like it had been bombed.

 

[alfredmizen]

Was there a major financial crash of some kind on the Friday? I seem to remember a Black Friday headline on the news on the Friday night

Yes, it started that day, but really booted off on the Monday, totally ruined the BP float.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Slept through it in my home in Reigate; my (then) wife and I moved to Banstead on the Friday morning. A short enough trip, but looking back, I'm astonished that the removals people all made it to us, and that the roads were clear enough for us to make the journey.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

Didn't hear a thing, I wasn't born though..

 

[Jam The Man]

Any excuse to wheel this old war story out again...

http://berrylogberry.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-great-storm-of-october-1987.html

 

[Petunia]

It was a very busy day at work on the Friday. Only a few of us made it in and there were a lot of families to be rehoused in temporary accommodation. Everyone pulled together, nobody cared who did what and the Chiefs took their turn at keeping the coffee flowing!
The following week was spent taking uninhabitable properties out of rating. Hand written input sheets for the data input ladies to put into the old mainframe system!!

I'll get my walking-stick........