Powerful Ten

It is cold today; cold enough to reconfigure the anatomy of a brass monkey, as I believe the saying goes. I love it. Winter is my favourite season (with my other favourites being Spring, Summer and Autumn...). Everything’s sparkly and snowy and sometimes festive, and there’s a plethora of knitwear about. Who doesn’t love a mitten? (Or two…as I discovered at the bus stop in town today, one glove doesn’t do much.) Winter is the best season, and the weather is brilliant.

Or sometimes, it isn’t. You know how sometimes, a load of things happen at once for no reason - a series of coincidences that surprise you? 25 November is a very coincidental day, as today in History there have been no fewer than ten natural or weather related disasters. It is not, therefore, a very cheerful day...

The events started in 1343, when an earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea (the bit of water off Italy’s west coast, between the country and Sardinia) caused a tsunami, which devastated the cities of Naples and Amalfi. Another earthquake, in 1667 hit Shemakha, an Azerbaijani city, killing around 80,000 people.

A few years later, in 1703, Britain was hit by what was possibly the worst weather related event in the country’s history. A massive storm struck, the peak period of which lasted until 27 November, with winds of up to 120mph almost constantly. It was very imaginatively named the Great Storm of 1703 (complete with Very Important Capitalisation) and must have been pretty horrible, really. Though the worst was over by 27 November, the winds did not fully die down until 2 December. Between 8,000 and 15,000 people are estimated to have been killed by it, including around 2,000 seamen (the worst affected areas were the South and West of the country, where most of the main navy bases were). 13 naval ships were completely destroyed and the New Forest lost 4,000 oak trees. Queen Anne herself had to shelter in a cellar to avoid the lead that was falling off the roof of Westminster Abbey. I know the British like to moan about the weather, but I think that this time we might just have been justified.

Fifty odd years later, in 1759, another earthquake rocked the Mediterranean which killed between 30,000 and 40,000 people in Beirut, and another massive earthquake struck in 1833, this under the sea near Sumatra. It is estimated to have measured between 8.7 and 9.2 on the Richter scale, and caused a huge tsunami all along the Indonesian coast.

Six years later, in 1839, around 300,000 Indians were killed when a cyclone caused a massive storm surge that destroyed 20,000 ships and the port of Coringa, which has never fully been rebuilt since the event.

Almost 100 years of ‘safe’ 25 Novembers passed, until, in 1926, there was the deadliest November tornado outbreak in American history. 51 people were killed in Arkansas alone, where an F4 tornado hit Heber Springs. Around the rest of the Midwest, another 25 people were killed and around 400 injured as a result of 27 further twisters. It was Thanksgiving Day then, too. Another Thanksgiving Day tragedy occurred in 1982 when an entire city block was destroyed by fire in Minneapolis, though fortunately this time there were no deaths. This was not the case in 1987 when a category 5 storm, Typhoon Nina, hit the Philippines, killing 1,036 people, nor in 1996 when an ice storm hit the central US and killed 26 people.

So this year, for Thanksgiving (even though I am not an American) I would like to give thanks for the fact that there have been (so far) today no horrendous events, and wish you a safe, happy and free from any giant storms 25 November.

London Calling

17 October seems to be a somewhat deadly day for Londoners, so, if you are one, I implore you to be extra careful today. I hope this didn't make you panic, as I may have exaggerated slightly there - the number of people killed on this day is pretty low. It's more that the circumstances of their deaths are unusual to say the least...

Firstly, we shall take a trip to 17 October 1091 - though I'd advise you to bring your wellies and possibly a change of clothes, as we're about to experience one of Britain's largest storms - so large, in fact, that it was actually a tornado. It was the earliest recorded tornado on mainland Britain and still holds the record for being the severest. Winds exceeded 200mph and caused London Bridge to fall down, as well as around 600 houses and the church of St. Mary-le-Bow. Astonishingly, records claim that only two people were killed as a result of the storm (reckoned to be a T8 category tornado, for those to whom that may mean something). 

Of course, this being medieval England, everything happened for a reason because God was displeased, and boy, did God have his reasons for being displeased. The King  at the time, William Rufus, the second son of William I (a.k.a the Conqueror), was a bit of a dodgy chap and there were many of his actions which may have resulted in God being pissed enough to send a tornado London's way. He allowed his soldiers to do as they pleased in Britain and lead by example - stealing from churches to fund his extravagant lifestyle of hunting and feasting. He also removed the Archbishop of Canterbury and other religious leaders who disagreed with him and mocked those who decided to go on Crusade, saying that they were engaging in a pointless waste of time and money. It is easy to see why people believed he wouldn't exactly be in God's best books...  

Fast forward a few hundred years, and we're still in London, even though now it's 1814. You could still do with having your wellies and waterproofs with you though, in case you get covered in beer. I am ashamed to say that I initially laughed at this story, but actually it's pretty horrible because it involves eight people dying, three of whom were children. But it should still be filed under 'what a way to go', I think...

The eight were killed on this day in 1814 when several vats of beer in a brewery on Tottenham Court Road ruptured, spilling more than 323,000 imperial gallons  into the street and causing the basements of the houses on the road to fill up with beer. The brewery was taken to court over the accident, but in the end did not have to pay the damages as the event was ruled an Act of God. I shall try not to draw any conclusions about God from this...

Many people rushed out onto the streets (the accident happened in one of the slums of London, so there were a lot of people around) with pots, pans and any other receptacles they could find to prevent the beer from going to waste, whilst others simply lapped it up where they were standing (or lying, after a while...). The final casualty came a few days later, in the form of a man who died from alcohol poisoning, who had clearly tried very hard to stem the flow. A hero, of sorts...