UK: Theres a Storm coming! PART 3 "you'd better watch out, I'm tellin' you why, the great storm is comin' to town!"

[Frogging101]

Updating. We've used sandbags to cover up the house, we're not evacuating ourselves. We can get to high ground if need be. The wind is incredibly heavy. Walking against it was pretty hard for me.

 

I've worked with several people in the street to supply the elderly with sandbags as well, and make sure everyone is secure. We should be ready. The biggest problem is that we didn't expect this. The last flood was all the way in the black&white years. We had the shitty luck of getting a big storm on a full moon.

Sorry for my ignorance, but what does this mean?

[Lady Soniko]

I'm guessing Lunar activity has an effect on sea/water levels.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Holy crap!

 

Hull City Centre is underwater! It's on the local news right now, theres a massive power cut (in the city centre) and a huge community on the Humber is also underwater.

 

According to the environment agency the only reason the city was spared the bulk of it was thanks to the tidal barrier.

Well heres my town.

 

 

I think my local comic book store will not survive this day.

 

[Stasis]

It's my mum's 50th birthday today and my auntie filled our back yard full to the brim with 50th balloons. Within an hour of doing so and coming back to the house, not a single one was left. We have yet to find any and the walls around the yard are 7ft high. Keep your eyes peeled.

[Detective Shadzter]

Things look pretty bad.

Lethal storm and tidal surge sees thousands out of homes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25220224

[Badnik Mechanic]

Well heres what Blackpool looks like now...

 

 

 

 

And video from Hull.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8foiflFFJeI

 

I know that road quite well... it's quite a fair distance from the Humber, so the storm surge must have been huge for it to be that far inland.

[Your Vest Friend]

I got hail and a bit of rain.

I live in a really hilly area, fortunately for me that means the top of one.

[Komodin]

Well heres what Blackpool looks like now...

 

*snip*

 

Wow, this reminds me so much of a what happened with Hurricane Sandy... oh, I do hope that you guys'll be alright out there. 

[Badnik Mechanic]

Well heres a bus driver who deserves an award for intelligence.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=231159120383993

 

Not sure if you'll be able to see it... but a bus driver just drove through a flood and... well you can guess what happened.

[JezMM]

Wow lol.  What was he expecting?  It's evident from just looking at them that bus doors are not sealed tight when closed.

[SilentDoom]

Haven't noticed a thing here.  I'm right down south in Bournemouth though.  Stay safe to those who are caught in the winds.

[Abominal SnowTaz]

Well heres a bus driver who deserves an award for intelligence.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=231159120383993

 

Not sure if you'll be able to see it... but a bus driver just drove through a flood and... well you can guess what happened.

There ya go.

[Amomynous]

Holy Cow,I noticed it was windy, but I had no idea it was this bad in other areas of the country, shame about the poor people who got hurt or got their stuff destroyed. 

[Jin.]

Yeah, lunar activity influenced the tide.

 

Things went rather smoothly. No damage or anything.

[Tani Coyote]

Goodness, that's a lot of damage. Entire areas are deserted... but if nothing else, it's a testament to the fact that the UK has solid evacuation procedures. Here in the US it's not always so efficient.

In absence of severe storms, buildings gradually become closer and closer to the coastline, even dangerously close to high tide; the United States did this, for example, during a period of decreased hurricane activity a few decades ago. Needless to say, it wasn't pretty when the storm activity picked up again. To my knowledge severe storms are not the norm in the UK, and so it makes sense there are so many coastal towns that are being inundated.

We should be thankful it's not the Summer, I think, when tourists are most likely to flock to those sorts of towns. We can also be thankful the damage is primarily material rather than human, at least from what I'm hearing; in many other places severe storms can kill thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people.

 

From what some of you are saying here, you didn't feel it too much in the West,

If I'm not mistaken, that would be to the left of the storm's track, as I predicted. My Meteorology studies have proven useful!

That and the strength of a storm is weakened enormously as it moves inland due to friction and less evaporation, so it makes sense the western portions aren't hit as bad.

[JezMM]

I heard it was gonna be bad in the south-east last night/today but it's totally fine here.  Guess we just skimmed it.

 

I know a nearby village had evacuations because they're on a river, but that's it.

[Bisylizzie]

Is it worth mentioning what happened in Boston? (I mean, it pretty much echoes what went on elsewhere. Was surprised when it was name-checked on the national news, due to people having to be evacuated outwards to Grantham and the like, eventually).

 

Looked fairly clear when I was travelling earlier, but still a fair amount of water/damage in places - some homes/buildings were being pumped out earlier.

 

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/142151.aspx

 

Still flood warnings for Boston tonight(amongst other areas), though. Couple of roads still closed, and a few places still closed. That link might be handy for those also on the East Coast to just check out what their area is like...

[Badnik Mechanic]

Don't worry guys, The Lifeboat Crew will save us!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju565vYi3Bo

 

Now for this pretty amazing image.

 

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71592000/jpg/_71592038_71592036.jpg

 

Thats a huge wave crashing into the seafront, the orange glow is actually the setting sun on the horizon.

 

And this guy had a VERY lucky escape.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRkKUYjNkpE

[Salamander]

Went for a walk in some woods nearby today.  The paths were littered with twigs and branches and there were freshly-fallen trees all over the place, and that's just the ones that fell across the paths - any number could have fallen in the depths of the woods without producing a sound.

[Kevin]

Wow! That's quite a storm! A friend of mine who lives in Denmark got hit with one too, so I'm guessing it's from the same storm that hit in the UK. Hopefully no one here got any bad damage where they live.

[PickleBrows]

The Met Office has a few warnings in place for the UK tomorrow. Best to check before setting out in the morning.

[Biggs]

Apparently it might snow tomorrow.

 

Snow? In December? In the West Country?

 

What miracle is this?!

[Vertekins]

It is very rainy and windy here in B'ham at the moment, which actually makes me thankful that our Frankfurt Christmas Market visit was postponed. I just hope things have settled me tomorrow as I'm going into town to do some of my own Christmas shopping. Hopefully the trains will be running fine.

[Your Vest Friend]

Winds were terrible earlier in Hanley. Rain didn't set in until hours later at home, but it became heavy enough to sound like hail and startle the dogs. It's calmer now.

[Brad]

I'm currently in Devon and things are pretty bad here too. Lots of strong wind which makes the rain a lot more annoying. It's subsided currently but it doesn't look to be improving... Sigh. It's looking like it's not going to be a white Christmas again this year.