Great Storm 1987

In southern England, 15 million trees were lost in one single night. Trees blocked roads and railways, brought down electricity and telephone lines. Properties were left devastated - and so were lives.

Send your story and photos to kent@bbc.co.uk

Pat, Larkfield
Twenty years ago I was working in Holland and travelling back each weekend on the Olau Ferry between Sheerness and Vlissengen. On the Monday or Tuesday of that week we had weather reports in Holland of a bad storm due at the end of the week and that travel to the UK would be suspended. I believe they thought the storm would travel up through France and the Low Countries so I decided to change my travel from the Friday Night sailing to the Thursday Night sailing. Bad Decision! The ferry left Vlissengen on time at 22:00 with the rain already falling and the wind freshening. The weather progressively grew worse as the trip went on and the memory I most remember was the sheer noise. The Olau ferries were not small vessels but waves were hitting the ship and literally stopping her; this being followed by heavy vibration as the engines got her going again. Eventually, with the first daylight, the ferry got in behind the North Foreland where the sea state quietened down somewhat and I seem to remember we sailed in large circles, I believe a crane had fallen into Sheerness harbour and vessels were not being allowed in. Some hours later we moved along the Kent coast and anchored off Minster. A televison was on in one of the restaurants and the news reports were painting a picture of utter chaos. Were the media blowing this up out of all proportion? The ferry eventually weighed anchor and progressed into Sheerness with looks of disbelief from first time travellers as we passed the Richard Montgomery’s masts. We docked at 16:00, nine hours after our normal docking time. Apparently a great cheer went up as the ferry docked from all those who had been waiting. On the journey back to Maidstone I could see the media had not been exaggerating their reports. The countryside had been completely changed. A row of telegraph poles across the fields near the Kingsferry bridge were all leaning at 45 degrees. Boxley Hill had become a slalom course with uprooted trees and chalk boulders from top to bottom. At least my Dutch colleagues gained some entertainment upon my return the following Monday.

The Great Storm of 1987

Barbara, Edenbridge
We were living in Crockham Hill in October 1987 with our two young sons, aged 3 and 6 months. During the height of the storm I went into the boys bedroom to check they were OK, but as they were sleeping I left them in their beds. Imagine my horror the next morning when I saw the fallen trees outside the boys' bedroom window. Had they falled the other way they would have crashed straight into the room where they were sleeping. The next morning I tried to drive to work in Sevenoaks, but within a few yards I realised that all the roads were blocked and we were detined to stay in the village for several days while the fallen trees were cleared. As our house was all electric I had to find a way of keeping us warm and cooking the tinned food we had in stock. Fortunately I had an old-fashioned pram, so every day I would pack the baby in it and set off around the village piling up the pram with smaller pieces of fallen wood to burn on the open fire in the living room. This meant I could heat up baked beans etc. for my toddler's meals and boil a keetle for some tea for us. We survived like this for a week, but at that point I was getting ready to bale out to relatives in Sevenoaks as we had been told the water in the local reservoir was almost finished and no more could be pumped up until the electricity had been reconnected. I was just packing up our stuff when the lights came back on and life could begin to return to normal. We were fortunate as the only loss we had was the cancellation of my son's 3rd birthday party on the Saturday as there was no way to get the requisite supplies. But it was an experience which has always made me appreciative of the conveniences available to a modern mum and I began to realise what hard work motherhood must have been to my Great Grandparents who lived in isolated rural Kent.

Frank, Maidstone
I was senior manager on call for Oakwood Hospital Maidstone. At about 6am I was advised a storm had caused considerable damage to buildings across our site
Fortunately I lived within walking distance of the hospital,as soon as I left my home I could see large trees uprooted on the nearby Barming Heath and within the grounds of the hospital. We were unable to contact Senior Health service staff as the phones to the District were down. Available building and engineering staff carried out a inspection and their reports made clear we had many wards unsafe for use due to damaged roofs and other structures. Over the next twenty hours we had to relocate over 300 patients many of whom were physically and mentally disabled. Patients and staff moved to other wards in the hospital and across the district ie Linton Hospital and Preston Hall Hospital. They were to be displaced for many months but were heroic in the way they adapted to this natural emergency and its aftermath.

Pam and Gordon, now living in Devon
We lived in Rainham, Kent, at this time. Our house was sold and we were soon to remove to lovely Devon. Our house damage was not such a lot compared to other homes in the area and throughout Kent. We lost roof tiles which when falling onto the conservatory roof caused damage and similar happened to a manhole cover. All this had to be repaired quickly in readiness for the next owners. This was managed and insurance claim settled before we moved. We werelucky, not others. Around the corner from us a house lost its complete side wall - the bricks slid down collapsing just like a Lego set. These bricks fell onto the roof of a car parked alongside the house and the vehicle was squashed almost flat. The devastation everywhere was heartbreaking. Sheds and greenhouses in gardens were lifted up and transferred by the gale to other parts of gardens. Orchards full of pear trees lost their fruit which fellto the ground, unusable, and theleaves were blackened and shrivelled. Trees in our beloved woods where we used to walk were uprooted in great swathes. They lay on the ground, those majestic beech trees, with their roots revealed and caked in chalky soil typical of Kentish high ground.

Alison, formerly Wadhurst
At the time, I was 21 and was living in Wadhurst, Kent. I spent the night fretting about the noise on the roof, thinking that a mouse was in the attic - some mouse! It was the roof tiles that were lifting and playing a tune all night long before landing in the garden. We lost a big tree in the middle of the garden and there was a tree over the lane at the front of our house that had landed in some old lady's front room.
I bravely (!) decided I had to get to work in Tun Wells because they couldn't possibly manage without me and as the phone wasn't working, I couldn't let them know I would not be there. Once someone had convinced me the car wasn't going to get anywhere (there were trees across the lane like dominoes - how obvious?!), I decided I would walk to the station instead. I can't remember how people knew, but there were reports of people who had tried the same thing (I wasn't the only one who was mad) who said that the line was littered with trees. I succumbed to the idea of spending the day at home. 
However, I was still determined to let them know at work not to expect me - so this time we walked a couple of miles to the local pub (nearly lunchtime when we got there - how handy!) where they had the only working phone line and some electricity or something. Climbing over huge trees all the way down the road - I lost count of how many there were. It was quite incredible to stand at the foot of an uprooted tree - the diameter of which must have been 15 - 20 foot for some of them.
The community spirit came alive - men were out with chainsaws trying to help clear the road and the ladies made tea and sandwiches! I finally telephoned the office (hurrah, at last!) but was greeted as if I were bonkers. The windows were all blown in and there were no shops or offices open. Only a local lady had gone into the office. Our house became a bit of a prison after that. We couldn't go anywhere - there was no electricity, but fortunately we did have a gas fire and a gas hob so at least we could keep warm and fed. I remember it so clearly - I can't believe it is 20 years since! I still feel that was when winter was real - cold in October - none of this warm half way stuff we get now! A real thank you to all the people who helped in the clear up operation and
- due to my naivity and shock, I never stopped to think about.

Alan Forman, Darenth
We were running an Old People's Home at Darenth and lost the power supply for 7 seven days. We had a stand-by generator which kept the essential services functioning and staff were getting up during the night to check the fuel supply on the generator and most of the elderly people were not aware that we had no mains power. However, our problems really began when the electricity company reconnected the supply. We had what is called a 3-phase supply to the building and when they reconnected the supply they got some wires crossed so 440volts was sent into several of the circuits. We had fried fish in the tropical tank, televisions and radios exploding and, most alarming of all, were beds catching fire because of overheating electric blankets! At that time my wife was showing the relative of a potential client around the home and when he saw beds with smoke coming out of them he said that he would call back at a more convenient time - and promptly left! (His mother did eventually move in, though.)

Andy Wigg, Sittingbourne
It was my bosses last day on the 16th October. She was having a leaving drink at the Kings Head in Sittingbourne. I was working at the Economic Insurance Company in Sittingbourne, I lived 100 yards away in Burley Road. We arrived (well some) and obviously all the talk was of the nights events. However, not to disappoint we agreed to venture to the pub to say farewell. Alas we arrived and found the Chimney had fallen through the roof and crashed through the bar and into the cellar. The Pub was closed. Luckily the Coniston Hotel was unscathed and we took our party the 50 yards up the road. That evening I was also invited to a party at the Old school club in Teynham, after dodging many a fallen tree we arrived to find no lights or DJ Equipment. The DJ's equipment couldn't get to the venue. However, we improvised and still had a great night.

Mr and Mrs L Peters, Sheerness
We will never forget the night of 16th October 1987. It all began as a rather windy evening when we retired to bed, double glazing kept most of the noise out yet we could still hear a tinkling noise which transpired to be roof tiles flying around. Around 3am we were awaken by a tremendous crash, caused by the gable end of our Bungalow falling out, almost at the same time my son and his wife with a 5 day old baby appeared on the scene, all of their windows had been blown out and they were obviously concerned about the baby. We stayed awake for the rest of the night until daylight when we could see the damage. All our summer clothes had been stored in the loft on hangers, and they were now strewn across telegraph wires and trees that remained standing down the road. My neighbour then informed me that the adjoining brick wall had collapsed on our car. A problem arose afterwards when there was an acute shortage of bricks, we had to shore the gable end up with sheets of Plywood and ropes to keep the roof stable, meanwhile I had to search all over Kent to find 100 Bricks. Let us hope that we never experience another night like that again.

Kav, Gravesend
On the morning of 16th October 1987 i was born at 7:01 am at Gravesend hospital. my mum told me "I chose a perfect time to come into the world" with the world coming down all around us! My mum also told me that when family members came to visit her they told her that billboards were all on the floor and everything looked like a bomb had gone off!

Sadie, Gillingham
I was just 9 when the Storm struck! and lived in Sittingbourne, Kent. I remember on the evening of the 15th October my Dad going to put the car away in garage and commenting that it was un-seasonally quite warm, the word he used was "barmy" and in a funny way this alerted him to the fact something wasn't quite right!
The next thing I remember, I awoke in the middle of the night to a deafening roar, smashing glass and hearing my Dad shout some obscenity! The large wall across the road from us had collapsed and their soon to fitted replacement windows were now blowing around the cul-de-sac.
My younger brother then staggered from his bed to visit the toilet, turned the light on and the entirety of South-East England plunged into darkness (we still blame him for this!)
My Dad had a midnight adventure out into the garden to rescue our dustbin, which was hurling itself dangerously around the garden! He didn't manage to salvage the lid, but this didn't matter as in the morning we had a choice of three!
Daylight broke, the wind decreased and eventually the neighbours started to venture out. We couldn't see much from our windows, despite being several miles from the coast, our windows were coated in a thick layer of dried sea salt and sea weed! The 16th was definitely a case of the Blitz spirit with the more able helping the less able. I remember a little old lady bringing out a tray of sherries for the helpers! She couldn't sort her roof out but she could look after the troops! I still remember the sight of all the blue tarpaulins on roofs for weeks after the event as tile companies struggled to cope with demand!

Tina, Gravesend
I awoke that night of the hurricane to the sound of next doors slate roof landing slate by slate on my patio, I suppose I should have been grateful it wasn't my roof, but I was afraid that one of the slates was going to come through the kitchen window! I brought the children downstairs, as I was afraid that the chimney would crash through the roof or that the trees across the road would topple, again breaching the roof. We huddled together with candles and torches waiting for the winds to die down. I was concerned about my cats and after checking they were both in, I blocked up the cat flap as I didn't want them going outside and the young female (Tater was her name as she was found abandoned outside a green grocers) needed to go to the toilet. She chose the pot of a large Yucca plant as a suitable place to go, me not having had time to organise a litter tray- thankfully the cat, the kids and the Yukka plant all survived the experience!

Jo, Cliftonville
I remember it all so well because I had just had an operation on my foot and my husband brought me home to Cliftonville in Kent. I went to bed in some discomfort: so I remember the sound of the wind increasing throughout the night, so much louder than any wind I had heard before. There were strange noises of creaking and crunching which were obscured by the howling and screaming of the wind later in the storm. It was frightening and although I wanted to see what was happening I was fixed to the bed as a source of security. In the morning my husband got up for work and left while I was trying to sleep and recover from a very disturbed night. I got up to wake and attend to my 2 year old son to find there was no electricity, no phone, and chaos in the garden. The fence was down as were 2 trees. My neighbour called around as she knew we had gas to cook some food and make a warm drink, while she was without any means without electricity . My husband returned home soon after, having tried to get to Canterbury, but failed due to so many trees fallen on roads. Later he took me to view the area. We drove ( with difficulty) around our locality, where crews had been out trying to clear some of the fallen trees .At least 1 out of 3 trees were on the ground, roots up. The local park. Northdown was a scene of devastation. There were numerous houses with roofs damaged by fallen tiles, the whole of the end exposed. I shall never forget the impact of that day and the devastating effect it had on our neighbourhood.

Peter Smith, Dartford
I was employed by British Rail as a Duty Shift Manager in charge of a shift of signallers in London Bridge Signalling Centre on night duty at the time and as the weather increased we were getting reports from drivers of the overnight mail and paper trains that weather conditions were getting worse. There were reports of lines being blocked by debris and fallen trees and we were sending staff to sites to clear the lines, however, as the situation worsened it was decided to try and get the trains into depots or sidings or returned to their starting points. At this point all power was lost to the signalling centre and the external signalling systems meaning that no further train movements were possible. The emergency lighting failed to work and it was necessary to resort to cigarette lighters to move around to the emergency cupboard and get out the few handlamps that were available. The train drivers were still able to contact the signallers by lineside signal phones and they were all kept up to date with the situation and told to remain with their trains until daylight made it safe to move about. It was the only time that I was required to contact my on call manager and when he answered the phone he was so surprised to hear from me he said he knew it was for something very serious,he was in the dark to. The following hours were spent attempting to have points secured by staff outside to allow the movement of the trains into safe locations and to advise all the morning staff of the situation and when relief arrived to arrange taxis home, this being around midday for most of us. We were all back on duty that night and assisted in clearing the lines and having power restored so that some services could resume operating. The one thing that sticks in the mind is the fact that on the Friday evening we were contacted by the catering unit on the station and asked if we could all do with some refreshments as little had been sold during the day and it would be thrown away. We were supplied with a mountain of sandwiches, pies, microwave burgers and drinks sufficient to keep us going for days. Some of the signallers battled in that day from as far away as Longfield on mopeds such was the dedication of staff to help their colleagues.

Nick Fawcett, Wye
I was away in Manchester at the time, but I managed to phone a builder to see my house in Wye, and fix it. The phones were down for many days after that. A mile North East of Wye a lane to Marriage Farm leads up behind the Crown hill. The wood on top of this hill, 550ft up, was flattened, and to open the road workmen had to cut through a beech tree every 20-50ft, for a quarter of a mile. A lovely wood that you could walk through was flattened, all the old trees lying like dead elephants horizontally. One feature in Kent was the way the wind hit from the South west. As a result, the trees on the Downs from Folkestone to Maidstone were all blown over the same way, and lying like combed poles on the ground, they all showed white roots, which were visible for years afterwards, as white disks in the darker foliage. My house in the middle of Wye needed holes in the roof repaired, and The Kings Head pub in the centre lost its chimneys.

Rebecca, Ashford
My family still talk about it to this day. My brother and I were in our early teens, I'm 33 now. We were at home on the Isle of Sheppey. Mum and Dad were both in the police and Dad was on a course staying at HQ whilst Mum was working nights so we had a babysitter. I vividly recall standing in the lounge of our house looking out of our bay window along with my little brother scared out of our wits as we watched a fence panel coming down the road straight for us. The babysitter slept right through it! Mum tells us how she her colleague got out of their police car whilst they were out and it nearly took off so she got out too and couldn't walk. She describes how the window of a shoe shop blew out and there were shoes all over Sheerness high Street. I know we'll talk about it until the day we die. Devestation all around the county but a moment in history.

Elizabeth
I was living in the Medway Towns, and slept through the worst, waking about 6 I think. When she heard me moving my mother called out that there had been an awful wind. Some people had lost tiles. We listened to local radio and I decided not to even attempt to go into work. The following day, when I went on my motorbike to work, I was shocked to find myself riding through a line of trees. Al the trees on the edge of the park on New Road had fallen and the centre of their trunks had been chain sawed out, leaving a path for traffic.

Chris
I woke up and heard a terrible roaring sound outside. I looked out the window and thought that Martians had landed. I saw what looked like a spaceship with flashing red lights on. It turned out to be a nearby communications tower which had never been visible from my house before - but now all the trees had gone!

Anna Thomas, Stockport.
The storm would have been a sleepy blur to me if it hadn’t had been for my light sleeping older sister. I was only 10yrs old and my sister 13yrs old. The first I saw of it was her bursting into my room to look out on to the green that was situated at the front of our house. A green that was normally a tranquil area, with an average of 10 or more large, very old trees. Within the time I had gone to bed to waking early in the morning it had caused major devastation with fallen trees everywhere. There was also a tree right out side our home and we were worried it would fall onto our house or our family car parked outside. Fortunately for us when it was finally uprooted by the force of the hurricane it fell onto out next door neighbours car. The next day I went to see the effect it had on Gillingham Park, which was only a few streets away from my home and it became apparent, even at my young age, that I had witnessed a once in a life time event. To see the park and play area that I had spent many happy times, in such a state of disarray was an unbelievable sight. The whole experience and memory is one that will always stay with me.

Alister McKinnon
At 4am on that day my wife, myself anf two friends were on a Dan Air flight due to land and Gatwick from Mallorca. The pilot was rold the airport was closed so we diverted to Heathrow but after two failed, but scary, attempts we rerouted to East Midlands. It was only after we landed the telivision news made us aware of what had happened. We were later bused back to Gatwick and were lucky as just a few slates were missing at home. My story is not very exciting but I am sure If you can trace the pilot of that Dan Air flight it might make a good story.

Kevin Harris
I remember the October hurricane in 1987. That night I was working at Safeways distribution depot at Aylesford, Nr. Maidstone, on a night shift, once the power had gone down and various items started being blown around, we were sent home. I did offer a friend a lift home and started heading through the back ways towards Chatham. After playing dodgems with a couple of oil drums and coming across a tree that had been blown down blocking the road, a mile or so from my friends house, he decided to walk the rest of the way home. I turned around and made my way home past my work place. From my work place it was normally a 15 - 20 min. journey but because the train barriers were drop at one end, all the traffic had to make there way out the other route into Aylesford. This took a long time as 2 of the trees had been blown down blocking part of the road. Almost 2 hours later I was almost home but ran out of petrol and the best bit was it was right outside a petrol station, as there was on power in the area I couldn't get petrol and had to syphon off a gallon out of my mums car :-)

Bob Kidd ,Folkestone
I awoke at 0415 in the morning with the wind battering our bedroom window ,we face south west .My alarm radio was fading in and out as the power fluctuated.I was on 24hr callout being one of two key holders at the local Marks and Spencer store .I thought, any second now the phone is going to ring ,and sure enough the automatic refrigeration and intruder alarms had activated when the power finally failed and the phone rang calling me and work colleague out.I managed to get the car out of the garage without the door coming down on it by propping it open with a broom handle .I drove along sandgate road to the store with slates, tiles and road works equipment blowing about .Scaffolding was collapsing from a building as i past clattering into the road behind me .I arrived at the store at about 0500 ,i had to park away from the store as slates were raining down from an adjacent building. When my colleague arrived we entered the store to find complete darkness ,as was most of Folkestone. There was nothing we could do to save a lot of the refrigerated food stock on display on the shop floor .We had to ask the council to help us dispose of many thousands of pounds worth of stock. The power was finally restored at about mid day and we finally opened with very little chilled or frozen food to sell.My work colleague ,who lived in Dover at the time said he had never been so scared as when he drove to Folkestone in the storm from Dover where he lived at the time .He had to drive through Caple -le Fern with caravans from nearby sites being blown accross the road ,and live electric cables sparking and flashing every where like snapping snakes.At home we lost a couple of timber fence panels ,two bedroom windows blown in and a heavy roof tile that was sticking out of the back lawn.

Chris Pearce
My husband our youngest son aged 4 and I left our house in Kingswood to travel to Wales to visit my parents that night just after midnight. As we passed the Great Danes Hotel on the A20 several fence panels blew across the road in front of us but we kept going down the M20 though we decided after a while that perhaps we'd better turn about and go home. All the exits were blocked till we got to Wrotham. Then we returned towards Maidstone on the A20 and dodging trees and debris we made it back as far as Leeds Castle when a tree fell in front of us blocking our way. We manage to get to my daughter who lived in town and waited till daylight then had another go at getting home via the A229 south of Maidstone but all roads towards Kingswood were blocked. On the last road we tried some farmers were cutting fallen trees and clearing the road so we followed and helped them and eventually reached home around 10am. We had no power and no phones at home and our house was undamaged, so in the late afternoon we set out again for Wales. The main roads and motorways were cleared by then and we reached there in the evening. But back in Kent the rest of the family had no idea where we were and it took a few hours before we could tell them we were safe.

John Wilkinson
I was a long distance lorry driver at the time of the storm, working from Ashford in Kent, that morning I was driving my truck northbound on the A20 from Ashford, when I reached the Hothfield turn-off the road was blocked by fallen trees, I turned down into towards the village, as I drove down the road I could hear trees crashing down across the road behind the truck, I discovered later that morning that eight or nine large beech trees had barely missed the truck. I drove on thinking I could escape via another road out of the village, every route out of that village was completely blocked by fallen trees, I decided to return to the village centre and park outside the school because there was no trees there. The truck was buffeted for hours, I thought it would turn over. I was rescued whwn local woodsmen came and cut a route through the fallen trees back to A20.

Sharon, Dover
I worked in Burlington House at the time. The Day before the storm I was on the 9th floor and the whole building was moving it was vey frightning. When it finally arrived I was awoken by slates coming off the roof, I looked out to check what had happened, my next door neighbour had an caravan parked next to my car I stood and watched the caravan mount my car, thank god my car was parked were it was as no dout the caravan would have gone right down the road causing even more damage. The funny thing at the time my husband said for god sake come back to bed its your imagination that the van was moving.. I can tell he takes more notice now.

Les Homewood
I remember the 17th / 18th October 1987 very well. We were woken up by the fierce winds blowing across our flat roof bungalow in East Farleigh, my wife and I and our 2 daughters (at that time aged 13 & 14) were awake from about 02:30 onwards, my next door neighbour's huge Beech tree blew over like it was made of paper, it did not hesitate, it just started to move then gracefully laid across Vicarage lane, I decided then to construct a make shift shelter in the sitting room, due to the fact we had a flat roof, and an equally large Beech tree, and Oak tree in our garden, I wanted to protect my family as best as I could at that time in the morning. I tipped the sofa on to its side, and got the other 2 arm chairs on their side also, and pushed them together, forming a tunnel, I got the girls to go and get their duvet's and pillows, and take shelter inside, as I write, it does sound a little dramatic, but I felt it necessary to make some sort of shelter, in case my tree's came down towards the house.

Lynn Clayton in Sidcup
I was in the Maternity Ward of Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup in the early stages of labour with my first child when the storm commenced - I was booked for an epidural at 1am but the doctor was seeing another patient - he arrived at 4am having run across from another part of the hospital and was soaking wet. As he put the injection into my back all the lights went out but luckily the generator started almost immediately. My husband arrived at about 5am having driven around felled trees and damaged traffic lights to get to the hospital. The labour lasted several hours during which the nursing staff couldn't go off shift as some of the midwives for the next shift couldn't get in. I think my daughter was waiting for the storm to calm before coming into the world as she didn't make her entrance until just after 4pm. I wanted my parents to be the first to know as it was their first grandchild, but the phone lines were down where they were living in Sussex and it was over a day before we could get a message to them. We toyed with the idea of calling our daughter Gayle but resisted!

Anna Brewerton
I was just ten years old in 1987 and was living in Magazine Rd, central Ashford. I remember being sent home early from school that day. The wind was so strong it was blowing me and my friends backwards along the pavement, really hard work to walk. That night I went to bed and was only woken when an apple came flying though my bedroom window breaking the thin Victorian glass! My brother was only 7 days old and I went downstairs to find my mother comforting him in bed through the noise, and asked where's Dad? Her reply 'he and your sister are running down the road to collect the garden fence'!!!! A couple of huge trees had fallen over the main road and men were out in the dead of night cutting them, so that emergency services and cars could get through.... All night we sat in the house scared, waiting for it to pass. We saw sign posts and trees and garden furniture whiz past the window, anything that wasn't screwed down as they say... It was the nearest thing I have ever felt to a disaster and the 'war effort'. The next day my Mum made me go to school, but there weren't may of us there, and in the middle of our playing field...the bus depot roof!! It was so scary at the time, but good memories....I live in Aberdeen now, and the Scottish laugh as me - 'Hurricane?' they say, 'Soft southerners, it was only a wee bit windy you ken!!'

Mr Dean Maxwell Oliver
I was a pupil at Parkwood Hall School, Swanley, Kent, The storm kept me up all night. The slates came off the roof and the storm did a lot of damage. I was 13 years old. The school sent all the pupils because of the storm. I was living in London at the time.

Victor Romain
I was at sea that night, working in the galley of the then Townsend Thoresesn car ferry, The Pride of Free Enterprise. When we joined the ship, for the night watch, in Dover, the wind was blowing up then and the ship had to be positioned onto the berth, with the aid of a tug. The voyage to Calais, was very rough - even with the stabisizers out and fully working. However, we arrived there virtually on time. I was sitting in the PO's mess, when I got a call, on the galley phone from the bridge, that we were leaving the berth immediately and to make safe the galley and be prepared to even close it down. Those passengers not yet disembarked would have to stay on board, as it was too dangerous for the ship to stay on the berth any longer. Upon leaving Calais, we were clobbered by two massive waves in succession, from the west - hitting the ship broadside on - sending the new galley boy and all things in the mess, careering across the decks. The poor galley boy looked scared as it was his first tour of duty on a ship. I'm glad I was not working as a steward as I heard that the amount of passenegers throwing up and the the mess, was unreal. Anyhow, we rode the storm out, for the night, in the channel and when morning light broke, us crew discovered that our ship had been providing shelter to the St. Anslem car ferry, which was listing badly to the right; as most of the lorries had slipped -snapping their securing chains and the cars, under the toppled - some, lorries had even fallen over completely on their sides and crushing many of the passengers' cars to the sizes equivalent of metal and glass pancakes. The galley was closed to all services, for the first time since I had joined the ship since its maiden voyage, some years ago and the mess in the galley was unreal too. And that was despite saucepans and sauces and things being lashed to the stove, with hemp rope - most of them had broken free and there was food, water, and cooking oil, everywhere; especially from the deep-fat fryers, as the oil had come over their tops, upon leaving Calais. The bridge, I was told, had recorded a constant wind speed of 120mph, in the channel for over two hours that night.

Amanda Cerasale
I can remember about a few weeks after the storm of 1987 we were going to visit some friends of our who live in Bromley and I can remember saying to my Dad as we were travelling through Sevenoaks Dad look at those trees that had been blown over by the storm. Amanda Cerasale Garston Watford Herts

Iris Hersey
I was living in Victoria Court Flats Worthing at the time the whole block 36 flats actually swayed. it was a frightening time.

TESSA
I AM SPANISH, I WAS IN FOLKESTONE TO LEARN INGLISH. THAT NIGHT WAS THE WORST IN MY LIFE. I DIDN´T UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS HAPPENING, WE SPENT ALL THE NIGT LONG IN THE KITCHEN, DRINKING TEA AND CRYING. THE HOUSE LOSR THE ROOF AND THE PARK IN FRONT OD LOST THE TREES. AT THE END ANYTHIG WAS RIGHT.

Iain - Maidstone, Kent
I was a young (18) trainee insurance salesman working for the AA at the time. After a noisy night, I got up and rang my boss, expecting him to tell me to stick to BBC Radio Kent's advice "not to venture out unless in dire emergency". He calmly told me to get to work as soon as possible ! Needless to say, the phones rang for days without stopping; everyone wanted claims forms ! I remember there was a bit of a panic buying spree for camping gas because of the mains being off. I also remember that Sevenoaks became Oneoak !

Kate
i was only 6 at the time, but i remember that there was no school the next day because of the fallen trees. the next day we went to school and was moved from our class room (a hut) because it was unsafe

Beth Canna
I was living in a house close to Gillingham Park. Slept through the whole night. When I woke up and went downstairs to the kitchen the back door had blown wide open and half of Gillingham Park was in the house!!!

ALFRED JARVIS-CANTERBURY
MY WIFE WOKE UP ABOUT 2AM AND BROUGHT OUR ONE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER INTO OUR BED AND MEANWHILE I HAD LIT A CANDLE AND I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THE WONDER IN MY DAIGHTER EYES AS SHE LOOKED INTO THE CANDLE GLOW. LATER MY NEIGHBOUR HAD ARRIVED HOME FROM DOVER HARBOUR WHERE HE HAD BEEN INTERVIEWING AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT HE SAID THERE WAS A CRASH AND THE WALL CAME IN WITH THE SEA HE MANAGED TO ESCAPE THE WATERS BUT HE NEVER SAW THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT AGAIN

Mark Hendrick. Orpington
I was 16 at the time and had just started work where I lived in Buckhurst Hill, Essex. I woke at about 5am and could not beleive the devastation. I went in to wake my father who merely said "Stop being stupid Mark. Just get to work" he then went back to sleep. When I returned two hours later (after viewing some of the local devastation & being told by then boss to "forget it") my dad was sitting in the living room, watching the news when he looked at me and said "you've been out in that! Are you mad?" I just agreed, got a coffee and joined him in realising how lucky we had been, living where we did.

Lisa - sittingbourne
I remeber my mum and dad telling me that when the hurricane came all the bins in our street were blown into the road and that my brother now 31 slept all the way through it

Colin Osmond
I was a teenager in Margate at the time and I remember being woken in the middle of the night by a loud banging and crashing. I looked out the back room window and discovered the sound was coming from our garden shed bouncing around the garden. A very bizarre sight when you have only just woken up. Shortly after that, the wind grabbed it and off it went and landed about five gardens away. In the morning I got together with a few friends and we all decided to go and look at the carnage. I remember a crowd gathered at the end of a row of terraced houses on Ramsgate road calling up to a very confused looking couple in their bedroom desperately trying to understand why the whole side of their house was no longer where it should be. I will always remember what we found in Northdown Park. Almost all of the park's oldest trees, who's bases were easily six foot in diameter, were just snapped exactly like matchsticks. We were veterans at storm damage in Thanet with the destruction of the Pier and other such nights but just looking at all that destruction brought home the power of the storm that blew across us the previous evening.

Geoff
We had moved into our new home a couple of months before the storm. We had taken delivery of an 8' x 6' workshop shed which was delivered that day. The storm hit and the shed ended up as matchwood - the biggest piece we found was three inches square... No glass which had been wrapped in sacking to protect it. We also lost three ridge tiles. Our estate had no power but we were fortunate in that we had a gas hob, so could provide hot drinks for the homes nearby who were electric only.

Laurence Muspratt
We had played a gig at Canterbury art college and i was sleeping with my girlfriend on a friends floor - in the middle of the night i was woken by the sound of the storm and looking up thought i saw a ghost - terrified i waved my arm where the apparition was and clouted my girlfriend on the head - then on waking properly the curtains were flying up even though the window was only slightly open - next morning i was unable to get back to ashford - no trains - roads blocked - we walked down to the centre of town and found that everyone had made their way to the pub - like "sean of the dead" good days drinking ensued

Rox Goffin, High Brooms
I was born about a year after the hurricane but my mum recalls it very well. The windows of our old house were rattling and she slept right through the whole thing but she realised the damage when she went to visit my gran.All of the large trees in her garden had fallen and it took them well over a week to clear the whole thing up. She also said that getting anywhere was a disater because there were branches and trees all over the roads. Personally I think the whole thing would have been quite exciting.

John Sachs, Maidstone
We lived in Orpington at the time. My wife wanted to leave the bedroom cutains open to ensure that she would wake up early in the morning. At the bottom of next door's garden were three tall poplars, and the smaller branches were being blown from the trees against our window and the side of the house. So I closed the curtains in case any larger branches came through the window. As I looked out so I saw what seemed like a firework display, there were red sparks and green flashes as the nearby electricity sub-station blew up. All of the lights went out locally. As we lived near Orpington Hospital, I went to the front of the house to see if the generator had kicked in there - it had. In the morning, we discovered that there was a small hole in the conservatory roof, but there was no worse damage to the house. As the trains weren't running, I spent the next morning clearing up all of the branches in the garden, and made a big bonfire. Just near us, there were several houses with trees leaning against them, and there was a number of cars that had been crushed by falling trees. The picture of one of them made the front page of the Daily Telegraph. Our electricity supply was soon reconnected but some people, including my sister, had to wait over a week for their service to be restored. A night never forgotten!

Margery Mary Hawkins
I lived in a flat in a nurses'hostel This night, I saw big trees bending and decided we had a hurricane. The electricity went off. I lit candles. People in my corridor were awake, I shared out candles (warning about fire risk) and invited people to use my gas stove and kettle (they all share one electric cooker, which, of course was off. In the nursing home itself, night staff saw plate-glass windows bending like yacht sails.

Mick Allen, Dartford
I was living in Welling at the time, and I can remember tuning into the police frequencies on a small radio. They were attempting to close the A2 Medway bridge with not a lot of success, as every time the cones were put out they simply blew away and the traffic carried on across. I can also remember going to work by motorbike the next morning and dodging the remains of Welling United's fence and a plane tree in Park View Road. Knee Hill in Abbey Wood was a challenge, as well!

Kate Beadle Faversham
I slep right through the Great Storm of 87. At the time I was at university in London and my halls of residence was 18 floors tall and right opposite the Royal Artillary Cricket Ground. When I awoke and looked out the window i remember thinking to myself that the cricket pavilion had disappeared and they must be going to have a bonfire doen the other end of the ground as there was a pile ig wood and boards( the pavilion!) . People on the 18th floor had windows blown out and were rocked to sleep by the swaying of the building!

Nigel Branchett : Maidstone
My memories of the 1987 hurricane are vivid and live with me to this day. I was a serving uniformed police officer, on night duty. As usual before going to work I watched the weather forecast, Michael Fish, How wrong he was, and he kept his job. The evening started and it was bad enough with trees and branches starting to block roads. Part of our job was to try to clear them as best we could as the Council workers were inundated with work. At this time it was still just one of those very windy nights. It really started to build up around 2am and what phone calls we got were always from people needing assistance, rooves coming off windows blowing in etc.. On top of this there were still the alarm calls that we normally attended. Things were so bad as radio communication was poor, everyone available took whatever vehicle there was to patrol on their own. One alarm call I went to in Coxheath was terrible and I had a shop frontage whistle over my head along with all manor of debris. By this time radio contact was nil and only some phone boxes were operating. It was neccessary to go into the Police Station after every call attended to try to find out what was next. I had a call to go to Yalding where a lady was in labour. I tried to get there asap with no luck. A stand of trees fell down infront of me and blocked the road. I have never reversed a vehicle so fast in my life. I tried another route, no luck either. I found a phone box and managed to call in. Luckily an ambulance had made it to Yalding from wherever, and the lady was in safe hands. Back into Maidstone to be told by a milkman that a tree had come down on a house in Mote Avenue and the occupants were calling for help. I went straight there and a large tree was indeed on the house. I got out of my vehicle and tried to find a way into the people who were still calling for help. Something then hit me on the head and after that I don't remember anything other than what other polce officers told me. They had also arrived to assist. I had been hit on the head by a branch of a tree, that had come from across the road. When I came too I was in a polce vehicle and they were trying to get me to hospital. Luckily for me one of those officers was ex military paramedic, he manged to brace my neck. Unfortunately I never got to the Hospital as the roads were blocked. They took me to the Polce Station, where I was later looked at by a polce surgeon. Nothing putting me in imminent danger, later that day I did get to the Hospital just head neck and back injuries, nothing broken. My injuries were such that later I had to leave the police force on medical grounds, so ended my career. Will I ever forget that night, no chance. Windy weather to this day is still scary.

Steve (Dover)
I was 18 and worked as a breakfast waiter at Motel my alarm woke me at 04.30, after I had got dressed and had a shower, the lights went out. I had no power to have a cuppa. I had just passed my driving test. And set off for whitfield hill, I felt as I was driving my first car (a Mini metro), that it was gonig to blow away with me it! the hill was closed and I had use the buckland estate road. Their was branches and leaves blowing all over the roads. I finally reached the motel. We had no power also, and had to rely on emergency lighing. We only had gas, so the chef had to boil water for guests tea/coffee, he used the gas grill to make toast, but could mange the fry with ease! The thought we would recieve loads of complaints from guest's having to wait for the breakfast, but strangly accepted, and were very gratefull of all the staff's efforts to serve them.Once I finnished shift at 10.30, it was home to help my parents repair our chimney stack! Not bad for a bungulow!

Doris
I remember the storm too well. My dog had recently spawned puppies, and they all lived in a den in the garden. The dogs werren't allowed in due to the mess they made and the cost of carpet-cleaning- however, they had some lovely warm grass and a cosy kennel. The storm was raging that night, I wanted to bring them in but I couldn't- I was fearing for my own safety. I was seventy-three at the time, and recently recovering from a stroke. The next morning, I awoke, and half of them were missing, another six were dead, and two of them were as right as rain, having managed to wdge themselves in between a tree, which was not uprooted, and a wall.

Nick Russell
I woke about 4:30am and the barometer was the lowest I had ever seen it. I took Roxie the dog for a walk along the A26 at Hadlow - her normally floppy ears, and the pub sign were both horizontal from the force of the wind. Later, a neighbour nearly took his arm off whilst clearing fallen trees with an axe.

Tony Sheppard
I was a controller for British Rail as it was then, on Night Shift in the depths of Waterloo station. My section control was Chislehurst to Ramsgate via Tonbridge and Hastings via Tunbridge wells. The first indication that something was very wrong was when the driver of the Travelling Post Office (TPO) called the signaller from somewhere between Tonbridge and Paddock Wood and stated there was hundreds of trees down in front of him and he was unable to proceed. There started an incredible night duty that I shall remember to my dying day.

Harry
At home in Herne Bay, as the wind increased I became concerned about the security of my new garage door which was simply leaning against the side of the garage, waiting to be installed. As I approached the door, the wind took control and a huge gust sent it flying across the garden, all 8'x 9' of it. My wife and I managed to drag it back to a more sheltered spot, but it was obvious that we had to fix it somehow, so out came the hammer drill. In the screaming wind and bits of roofs and trees falling all around us, I rawlplugged some anchors into the wall and safely lashed the garage door down with string. The night sky was now lit by flashes from the nearby electricity pylons and the noise of the storm was deafening. A neighbour's double glazed lounge window was smashed on the outside pane and he spent the rest of the night pressing the remaining inside pane to contain it's flexing. He won. Caravans at a local site were badly affected, some of them were thrown upside down. Thankfully nobody was harmed and our own loss amounted to a single ridge tile blown away. It was replaced by a professional neighbour for a small sum, but I recall the sudden abundance of 'roofers', their saloon cars sporting roof racks and ladders, coming out of the woodwork. Where are they now? Retired and/or still on the dole? An unforgetable night that had to be seen to be believed!

J.Fawcett, Rainham Kent
I was staying at my mum's house in Bromley the night the storm came and slept through the whole thing. I thought it can't be that bad and off I went to and only got as far as Elmers End station where a wall had fallen and kill someone and public transport had stopped completely I went straight back home and turned the news on and sat there in silence and watched all the poor people who were not so lucky but, in the great british way everyone got through.

Carolyn, Horsmonden
I was in holiday in Hong Kong and rang my boyfriend that evening to wish him a Happy Birthday. He told me even before I spoke that he'd just been over and checked my attic flat in Eltham and it (and the cat) were OK - I asked hime why he'd felt the urge to check MY flat and he was amazed that I had NO idea of the disaster - he said that he only found out becuase he'd got up for work and found that the trains and buses in London were all to pot, so he'd walked from Crystal Palace to Eltam to check that my place had survived. I didn't get back to the UK until a fortnight later - and the remains of the damage were still very visible

E. Watson, Orpington
I was 10 and asleep at home in a small village between Sandwich and Deal. I was woken by the glass in my bedroom windows rattling in their frames and had never heard anything like it. My mum came and got me and my brother and we all stayed together in one room, not knowing what to expect in the morning. When it did get light the scene outside was just amazing. Garden furniture in ruins, trees splintered and split in half - lying in the garden, roofs half gone and fences down. I think we had somebody else's fence in out back garden. We had no electricity for a couple of weeks afterwards and I remember having to go to the village pub to eat most nights as they had a generator. The whole village used to be down there which was really fun and great for community spirit. We then went home and played board games by candle light! For a child of the 80's used to television and walkmans, I'll remember the aftermath very vividly, strangely enough as a unique and special time!

Tim Newman
I worked in sevenoaks next to the Vine where the Seven Oaks where. It was so sad to see them laying there all uprooted. To get to work I used to go through Seal but that was blocked with trees for over a week so i had to go down the M25 and in that way. When the road was re-opened it was like driving through a battlefield for ages although some new views were suddenly available. Just a relief it did not happen when more people were about.

Jenny, Broadstairs
Our house being Victorian has chimneys in the main bedrooms and I can still remember being woken by the bed moving across the floor due to the volume of wind down the chimney. My husband was away on business and couldn't get home for some days due to the roads being blocked and he had to stay in London until he could get a National Express coach home. My 12 year old whose room was the only one without a chimney slept through the whole thing and couldn't understand why we had no electricity when he got up.

David Saffery - Cliftonville
At the time of the storm I was living in Broadstairs and remember listening to the radio about a vessel sinking in Dover Harbour when all the power went. The following morning my drive to work, which normally took 20 minutes took over an hour owing to the number of fallen trees, walls and other debris in the streets. On arrival at work we had no power and were eventually sent home, the journey taking another hour plus. However the main thing that I will always remember is the number of Land Rovers based at Broadstairs SEEBoard depot from just about every electricity board in the UK.

Paul.
I clearly remember this day and night. I woke up in my flat in Herne Bay, I had heard the storm during the night with falling tiles and smashed glass. I walked to work that morning and it was like a large bomb had been dropped on my town. Trees were all over the road walls had been blown down and roofs had been opened up. As I got nearer to work at Wachers builders merchant I walked past Herne Bay railway station and saw part of the large corrugated roof of my workplace. It had blown straight over the station and landed in the street some 200 meters from the building. It was only good fortune that it did not kill anybody and happened at night. Wachers had only moved into the new building some two months before.

Clare ter Horst
Like a lot of people it was the terrifying howl of the wind that woke me, and then the fear because you had no idea what was going on around.After an enormous crashing sound I decided to take the children downstairs and sit them under the kitchen table...my mum had told me this happened in the blitz! After a bit I realised I had left the baby upstairs!There he was, 3 months old, sleeping peacefully in his cot under a gaping hole in the roof where the chimney had crashed through, completely missing the cot and most importantly the baby!

Jean Brown, Dartford
The evening of the 'hurricane' I had been out and was getting quite worried by the strength of the wind as I drove home. However, my husband and I went to bed and slept soundly awaking in the early hours to a fierce wind that roared through the gardens. Slates could be heard bouncing on the pavement and we worried about the car being damaged. The next morning, I heard creaking and branches snapping; it was the pear tree bending in the wind dropping huge ripe pears everywhere. I went out into the garden with two big bowls determined to get as much fruit as I could before any insects burrowed into the skins. The old tree was creaking and bending in an alarming manner and it crossed my mind it could come down on top of me but my greed was more than the fear of broken limbs. My neighbour came rushing round and took a huge bowl of fruit off me and promised he would make some pear wine. The resulting bottles were delicious, but since that night the tree has only produced 3/4 pears and nothing like the size they were. Funny enough I have just asked a tree surgeon to give me an estimate about pruning and trimming the tree and mentioned the storm and it seems that the 'hurricane' may well have loosened its roots. Still we were luckier than most.

> Sue, Welling
I was in a flat off Widmore Road in Bromley, Kent when the storm hit that night. I was alone and the electricity and phones went off. I only had a battery radio to listen to. I was very scared and kept saying that out loud to myself! I could hear the wind so loud outside. In the early hours of the morning, as I lay with the duvet over my head, I heard a slow loud creaking sound and the old oak tree right outside just missed the window of the front room. I was so relieved when morning came to get out.

> Charles Bayley, Tunbridge Wells
I was at school in 1987, it was the year that I was 16. I most certainly do remember the Hurricane, I escaped almost certain death by a mere couple of centimetres. I was at boarding school in Surrey, and just outside our dormitory was this fir tree, I don't remember how tall it was, but it was tall enough to do serious damage should it be blown over. I remember waking up in the night, and the wind was blowing so hard that the windows were ratling(that was the glass in the frames, not the frames themselves). It sounded as though there was a squadron of Harrier Jump Jets flying very low of the roof! Then there was a crash and out went all the lights. The fir tree(which thank god had lost most of its top part) missed the dormitory by I would say no more than four centimetres, had it hit the dormitory we would of either been killed or very seriously injured. One other thing that also sticks in my mind about that night was Michael Fish's weather forecast. I quote, "We have had a! phone call from a lady in France saying that there is a hurricane on the way, don't worry there isn't!" How wrong was Mr. Fish!

> Chris Hat, Reading
Mr Fish was actually talking about a storm near Florida, he was right, it never affected us! He actually then forecast it would be a 'bit windy', so OK, that's an understatement but it wasn't completely wrong as people suggest. The great storm was not a hurricane by definition. 

> Charles Bayley, Tunbridge Wells
I was at school in 1987, it was the year that I was 16. I most certainly do remember the Hurricane, I escaped almost certain death by a mere couple of centimetres. I was at boarding school in Surrey, and just outside our dormitory was this fir tree, I don't remember how tall it was, but it was tall enough to do serious damage should it be blown over. I remember waking up in the night, and the wind was blowing so hard that the windows were ratling(that was the glass in the frames, not the frames themselves). It sounded as though there was a squadron of Harrier Jump Jets flying very low of the roof! Then there was a crash and out went all the lights. The fir tree(which thank god had lost most of its top part) missed the dormitory by I would say no more than four centimetres, had it hit the dormitory we would of either been killed or very seriously injured. One other thing that also sticks in my mind about that night was Michael Fish's weather forecast. I quote, "We have had a! phone call from a lady in France saying that there is a hurricane on the way, don't worry there isn't!" How wrong was Mr. Fish!

> Rachel, Devon
It was my 7th birthday and the night before my birthday we put up a bouncy castle. To my horror the following morning - the 16th - it had blown away in the storm!

> Sue, Kent
I remember the storm well. We awoke to the tiles sliding from the roof. In the morning we discovered a twelve foot hole in the roof but very few tiles on the ground. Those that were on the ground around the house were not ours, ours being of a different material. Living in small village we had no electricity for a week and no telephone for ten days. No mobiles then to fall back on!! No electricity meant no heating and nothing to cook on. We luckily had an open fire so kettles and stews were cooked on an open fire. A neighbour with a solid fuel aga also cooked us some casseroles. No hot water for a week so clothe and personal washing was difficult . Some firiends living in Maidstone invited us to dinner at the week end and instead of taking the usual bottle of wine we asked if we could take our sponges bags to have a bath!! Neighbours around us escaped unscathed, not a tile or tree lost. A small vintage car that my husband was restoring was standing at the back of the house wrapped in polythene sheet, this was blown the entire length of the house but was undamaged. We had a small bramley apple orchard and lost the lot. 28 trees. Kept us in logs for three years!! Prior to the storm our electricity supply (overhead ) was often cut off by falling trees. After the storm because so many dead and dying trees were brought down by the storm our electricity supply once restored improved 100 fold, so some good came out it for us.

> Paul Slade, Cliftonville (Now Perth W.A.)
I remember the night well, laying in bed listening to the tiles sliding down the roof and smashing on the ground (and on my car) the howling the wind, the wife asking if we would be OK, me reassuring her but not very convincingly. But the best memory was looking down the street in the morning, slates and tiles still falling and littering the ground, branches and leaves blowing everywhere and the milkman, today wearing a crash helmet, running from door to door dodging the falling debris, but making sure the milk got through! 

> Quentin Wainwright, Nelson NZ
I was running my mother's B&B in the south of Canterbury that night. Two guests were from Kansas where tornados are common. I found them in the middle of the night huddled under a door way terrified. They had never experienced anything so savage and scary. They left next day without breakfast for Gatwick visibly shaken!

> Michael Hodder, Ramsgate
I was working on the Reid Wacher eye Ward at The Kent & Canterbury Hospital. I was just about to give a patient who could not get to sleep a cup of tea, when suddenly a double glazed window blew out. The lights failed, the Patient's and staff nurse Stella who I was working with, screamed as newspapers and get-well cards were sucked out of the open window. We were in complete darkness as the stand-by hospital generator failed to start. One of the night sisters telephoned our ward to request that I go and assist in other parts of the building. It seemed a long time before the lights came back on. I remember the eerie feeling I had as I walked through the pitch black corridors to reach other wards. I encountered some wonderful people that night, patient and staff alike. I will always remember them, true heroes.

> Graham, Berks
I was woken up at four in the morning by a friend, and went to Leysdown to anchor his caravan down. When we were getting back to Sittingbourne later that day the roof of the flats in Oak Road were on the road where I was living at the time.

> Helen Bell , Dover
I slept through the whole thing while my husband worked nights in a control room in Dover (losing computers by the minute). Despite being at the top of a hill and with a wood at the back of our house we had no damage. The funny thing was that we went off two days later for a boating holiday on the Norfolk Broads. Most of East Anglia had no electricity for the whole week and at times at night the only lights to be seen were on boats. We went to one pub where the landlord had rigged up a fairy light system powered by his son peddling a bicycle!

> Robin McQueen, Parkwood, Gillingham
I managed to sleep through the whole thing! When I got up in the morning, my house had escaped intact. Perhaps because our street runs north-south, the same as the wind that night, most of my neighbours got off lightly too, with the exception of missing fence panels everywhere. After chatting to the neighbours for a while, I drove in to work along the M2 when it looked all-clear and drove into GEC at Rochester Airport, arriving only an hour later than usual.
My Division at GEC was having an ‘Open Day’ that day, when the usual military security is lifted, to allow members of the public to see where we worked and the products we made. It turned out to be a bit more ‘Open’ than anyone had intended – the wind had blown in the 7-foot high, 40-foot wide office windows on the south side, demolishing the manager’s offices, and wreaking havoc in the engineering areas beyond! The coincidence wasn’t lost on the other divisions, and we were the butt of jokes for weeks afterward. Our offices were built as three ‘towers’ with walkways linking them on each floor. The destruction was so bad that it was 3pm before the walkways were declared safe to use, and it was the next day before we were allowed to get to our desks. Needless to say, the Open day was officially cancelled! Even after the manager’s offices had been re-built, I seem to remember that they had to put up with boarded-up windows for about another six months before they were replaced!

> Natalie, Ipswich
I was a month old when the storm hit our house. Both my parents were at home and out of the blue our roof got struck by lightening and set alight burning many of the possessions that we had kept in our loft. And you know what's even freakier? We lived at number 13!

> Zoe Ferret, Catford
I was due to be born on the day of the storm. As my mum went into labour with me, she tried to get to hospital. Fortunately for my mother, I was born at home and stayed in for another 14 days.

> Nicky Dawber, Maidstone
I slept right through it as it was my first night off after a stretch of nights at the local hospital. We were living in Aylesford at the time and I vividly remember looking out of my living room window the following day and watching my neighbours' glass conservatory explode because they had left a window open, some of the panes of glass were blowing in the wind as if they were plastic. My aunty also recounts the story of how her and my uncle saw a shed sliding down the road outside their house.

> Derek Parks, Yate
It was horrible as my large oak tree fell onto my ice cream van! My wife and I slept through it until she opened the curtains on the morning of October 16th, we were really shocked to see my ice cream van all smashed. The van was my whole business and it had all gone in one night- the neighbourhood wasn't very happy!

> Yvonne Steers, New Zealand
We lived in a flat above a restaurant that we owned in Tonbridge High Street, we had been out for a Chinese meal that night and commented how warm the night was as we walked home. Then after a while I heard the old sash windows in the flat rattle, then one of them fell out into the stairwell, the noise of the cans rolling up and down the high street will stay with me forever. Opposite the shop was a furniture store, the window had been broken and all the furniture was piles up at the back of the shop in a heap, blown there by the wind. We had not electricity in the shop for a few hours but were back, up and running in no time. The restaurant was busy with people who had been wandering about with nothing to do but look at the mess. In the morning my two boys who had slept through it all were quite worried because they could not go to school. So I tried to drive there, only to be turned back by the number of fallen trees.

> David Willcocks, New York
I remember living my girlfriend's house, in Kennington, Ashford. At midnight, thinking how warm it was! We were woken at 4am by the rattling noise of the fence on the side of the house. Then we took a look at the garden, just thinking that my dad is gonna be busy putting up the fences. Later in the morning, I went outside and it was strange seeing the local school, then it dawned on me all the trees were gone.

> Rose Atkinson, Biggin Hill
I slept through it, until I got up to go to the bathroom in the early hours. Hearing the wind I looked out and saw a large tree occupying our drive - gosh, I thought, what a good job we put the car away last night! As I went back to bed I told my husband. "Don't be so silly dear" he said "go back to sleep...!" Needless to say the light of day proved me right. Luckily, despite being surrounded by a great deal of trees, we escaped any serious damage. The eight days spent without power was manageable thanks to camping equipment which provided us with light and cooking facilities. We enjoyed quiet evenings in rediscovering the delights of radio, and tucked up in front of our gas fire catching up on our reading. We even had some friends to stay for the weekend - we'd originally met them on a campsite, so we knew they weren't going to be phased by the primitive facilities! Once reconnected to the world we were amazed to see the TV coverage and we still have a copy of the local newspaper reporting the events.l 

> Tim, Biggin Hill
Have to say I slept through the lot! But do remember going into my kitchen and wondering why the sky looked so bright. The reason was that the screen of poplar tress at the bottom of the garden had all gone down. Managed to get into work in Croydon by about midday only to be sent home soon after. The other memory is the sound of chainsaws and the smell of bonfires for weeks after.

> Chris Wood, Tenterden
We were without electricity for 3 weeks! Even more annoying most of the houses round us were reconnected within a few days, but owing to some quick supply liners - we were not. Can you imagine - cooking on a camping gas cooker, no hot water, lightening by candles and torches, no TV, no deep freeze or fridge, or washing machine or ironing. To add the traumas, we had an aged and infirm Granny to keep clean, fed and warm. It was to say the least pretty bloody awful! My other memory is getting a puncture on broke glass during the day. Having changed the wheel, I drove to a tyre depot in Ashford - only to find the whole building has been blown down! Initially we couldn’t even get out of the lane for fallen trees, but neighbours with chainsaws hacked a route out tog et things going again. However, awful as it was, at least our roof stayed on - a large concrete slab about 2 feet by 3 was blown off the chimney, but luckily fell into the ‘V’ between the ridge and the chimney - had it gone the other way, through the main roof, things could have been very different. Quite a night and the next 3 weeks too.

> Steve Cooper, Canterbury
The funniest thing I remember was being woken up by my dog barking in the kitchen. I thought nothing of it, but my mum automatically got up and went down stairs to let him out into the garden, thinking that's what he wanted. You can imagine, being pushed out into the garden at 2 am into 120 mph winds was certainly not what the poor fella wanted, and no sooner had mum closed the door, when Tramp started scratching and whining for his dear life to come back in a again. "Stupid dog", is all my mum said, and went back to bed. In the morning, when we saw all the destruction, I asked mum about the night time events. "Didn't you notice anything?" I asked. "Well, I thought it was a bit windy," she replied. A BIT WINDY!?!?! Understatement of the decade, don't you think!

> Gloria Green, Canterbury
As I am just finishing my Grandsons Birthday Cake It all came back 'The Night of the Hurricane' Josh was born on October 16 1987 a night and day my husband and I will never forget. We were living in Bredgar near Sittingbourne at that time and my daughter and her husband lived in Faversham. When she went into labour on 15 October naturally Mother wanted to also be by her side. She was in the Kent and Canterbury Hospital and I was able to be with her until about 11 p.m. that night. I was then told to go home and return the next morning as the Birth was not imminent. I drove home in very unpleasant weather conditions, little knowing what was to happen. I got up on early on 16 October to return to the hospital (not having slept much anyway) and was dismayed to find the devastation before me, trees blown down, houses severely damaged etc etc. My husband and I did finally arrive at the hospital and our wonderful Grandson had been born by emergency Caesarean and was put into the special care unit to be monitored. The purpose of my story is to tell you that he has a treasured book 'In the Wake of the Hurricane' by your very own Bob Ogley. When I bought this book for him I had asked Bob to put his autograph, he did more than that. He wrote: 'May the Tempestuous start to your life herald a peaceful and successful path through calmer days.' 
Whenever I hear Bob Ogley on Radio Kent, it always brings back those memories. When Bob wrote those words he could not have known that it was not only the Hurricane that was tempestuous, but his Birth also. Like us my daughter and family now also live in Canterbury so we have the pleasure of seeing Josh growing into a wonderful young man. Josh did have a Tempestuous start to his life, WE SHALL NEVER FORGET 'THE NIGHT OF THE HURRICANE ' 

> Antony Wade, Tunbridge Wells
In the Grove (just off the High Street in Tunbridge Wells) a total of 29 mature trees, out of about 50, were completely bowled over, leading to a replanting programme, which we are now beginning to enjoy. The loss of the major trees allowed much more light to get in to the area, and the Grove is now very much used as a Playground for young children, which is a good thing, and also for many purposes by the teenage group. It is also a favourite place in the summer for Office workers to take their picnic lunch.

> Ebby, Walmer, Deal
In all truth, I slept through it - lol! However, I remember the tiles lifting off our roof and breaking next door's greenhouse, oh and Michael Fish on the TV. Was worrying when almost exactly the same weather system occurred off Spain at the beginning of this week!

> Frances Burkinshaw, Wadhurst, Sussex
The hurricane occurred two weeks before my wedding! My fiancee and I ran a property management firm looking after several hundred properties in the area as we still do! Many of those properties suffered damage including our own home. We could not reach our office in Wadhurst until the following afternoon as we were trapped in our rural home. One client was ringing when we reached the office; she was calling from South Africa - she had seen the news and wanted to ensure that her Garden Room (shed!) in Biddenden was intact!
I told her politely that I would find out in due course but for the moment we had slightly more urgent problems such as putting tarpaulins over roofs. We were having the reception for our wedding in my mother's garden. Before putting up the marquee trees had to be cut down to ensure the guests' safety! Needless to say, we both came down with horrible flue type colds which did not make for a fun time on! What a honeymoon!

> Stuart Capel, Waltham
We lived in Elham between Canterbury and Folkestone at the time and at about 2.30am the TV aerial blew down and was clanging about. At 3.14am we had a powercut that lasted 6 days. We had to cook on a small camping stove and lack of heating meant our house got quite cold - not good with a 1 year old child, 2 dogs and pregnant wife. We had to move all our freezer contents to friends around Ashford. The most remarkable thing was that I was able to get to work at the William Harvey Hospital the following morning as all the local farmers were out with saws, tractors, etc, clearing the country lanes. Most of my colleagues didn't expect to see me for a while. 

> Luke Swan, St. Margarets, Nr Dover
I was only about 5 when I woke up to find my mum and dad pulling myself and my brother out of our bunk beds at some silly time in the morning. We were all watching it all through our bedroom window as trees were getting blown down, remains of people's houses floating down the street, with the very high winds, which I believe were not quite at a hurricane speed but very near to it. The rain were dripping from the roof, the lack of electricity, parents hunting for torches, and to our surprise, our roof being blown off! Cheers for the memories!

> Simon Mallett, Maidstone
Having just returned by land from working for 6 years in Egypt, the Great Storm rather capped the increasingly bad weather we drove through starting from mid Italy. My recollection is that we hit the rain in Florence in September 1997, which didn't stop until the following summer! I must admit to having slept through the Storm though! But I was up on my dad's roof the next day re-fixing slates in the aftermath! 

> Mrs L, Kent
My most vivid memory was of the Sealink ferry, the MV Hengist being blown from its course in Folkestone harbour onto a concrete apron on a bay about two miles east. My late father worked at the harbour and went to the stranded ship to see the terrified crew being lifted off. Luckily, that night there was just a skeleton crew on duty, no passengers. But pictures of the stranded ship still stirred up memories of the Herald of Free Enterprise which sank only seven months before. 

>Terry Carroll, Maidstone
My memories of this day were going to work that morning (British Gas) and not getting home for 36hrs. I spent the whole time attending gas leaks and dealing with dangerous situations. many of them caused by the fallen trees ripping gas pipes out of the ground.

> Lyn Kolsteren, Kent
My husband and I were disturbed in the early hours by the noise; and the feeling of a vacuum being created in our bedroom, as the roof shifted, made us retreat to our ground floor sitting room. We set up camp on the floor and, as we couldn't sleep, I opened my birthday cards, as it was my birthday on the 16th. In the morning light we looked out and saw that we had lost one ridge tile. However two doors down a house had a gaping hole in it's roof. This house was set at right angles to ours, and it seemed that the houses facing that direction had come off worse.
We were worried about my mother and step-father, who live on Romney Marsh, where they store caravans. At that time they were in the early stages of building a house, and so were living in a mobile home. They were preparing to move into a more modern mobile unit, which was beside their old one. During the hurricane the new one lifted up in the storm and had landed on top of the one they were in! They had a very traumatic time, and my stepfather still suffers panic attacks, though these are lessening. They also had a workshop blown in, and the roof off a garage. We ferried food and water to them over the next week or so, until they had settled again. At first we had to manoeuvre the car under trees which had been brought down. Ironically the worst damage to the caravans that were stored on their land, was that one had lost its gas bottle cover. The owner of this van arrived two days after the hurricane, stood amongst all the chaos of what had been their home, and asked my Mother! when she was going to fix it!!! I am so grateful that they are now in their home.

> Graham Dobson, Orpington
All through the night the tile hung front of our home rattled like piano keys. When we dared to venture out at first light the thing that struck us first was the dirt and difficulty seeing around us. Every window was obscured by filth blown about by the winds which still had not died. Trees were at odd angles all round us. There were no electricity - but we were lucky as we had a battery powered radio and could listen to news of the devastation. Later when we went out, neighbours had formed into work crews - cutting trees across the roads and using cars to pull broken branches to the sides of roads. Neighbours who had never spoken suddenly exchanged offers of help. It was as if a nightmare had continued after waking.

> Chris Jones, London
That night three friends came to my house in River, Dover to play cards. The room we used has only one outside wall with no windows. The lights went out for a short period when we used torches & candles. On their departure after the storm at approx 04.00hrs. Outside it looked as if WW III had started!! 

> Tony Walkerm, Canada
I was living in Canada at the time of the storm but was born and lived on Brasted Chart for 21 years until leaving to do my National Service. Mother, then living in Kemsing told me of the storm and sent cuttings from the newspapers to me in Canada. I "went home" about a month after the storm and was driven as far up the Chart as we could get. I could not recognise any of my boyhood landmarks as they had all gone! To see some of the venerable beech trees downed and some even revealing shrapnel damage from the war brought tears to my eyes. About 8 years later I revisited and attempted to show my Canadian wife the journey we did as boys walking to Hosey school. I felt very foolish when I got lost momentarily in the regrowing bushes but soon got back on track. One story my brother told was of a roaring trade in chainsaws including electrically powered ones when there was no power. 

> Ben, Canterbury
At just 5 years old, my memories are obviously limited, but we used to live in Tunbridge Wells at the time. My most vivid memories were loads and loads of tiles blowing off the roof into the street below, feeling the walls of the house vibrating, and seeing my Dad go outside into the maelstrom at about 5 am to tie the bushes in the garden to the fence - every single one had collapsed! We had to have most of our roof replaced like many other people. Of course, the term 'hurricane' is not entirely applicable to this storm, because it did not have tropical origins. Nor were there many instances where the wind speed was sustained at over 75mph (another deciding factor). But it was a very gusty storm, so there were times when the wind gusted up to about 105mph in some exposed areas (above 'hurricane force', or force 12 on the Beaufort scale). I believe some areas of France recorded even higher wind gusts. So, it was not really a hurricane, but it was certainly a storm of hurricane proportions. 

> Naomi Booker, Sandhurst, Berkshire
On October 16th 1987, I had just turned six and like any other six-year-old I was scared but at the same time excited because of the `goings on' outside: such as the trees bending in awkward ways and the odd roof tile smashing onto someone's car. The one thing I can remember is how the windows rattled, as at the time we did not have double glazing, I was wondering and panicking if the windows would smash!
The electricity got cut off, but the light from the candles kept us amused by making animal silhouettes on my bedroom wall. My dad, like everyone else was trying to save the house from destruction! 

> Julie Ling, Sittingbourne
I was on my own in the hurricane, my husband was on night shift, and I was also eight months pregnant. Everything was fine until at 2am in the morning all the lights went out and being all electric I couldn't have any lights on or do any cooking, or even make a cuppa, I was absolutely petrified. Fortunately, the following month the baby was born perfectly and I was alright. However, I have written a detailed account of exactly what happened that night on how it has given me a phobia as I'm still afraid of high winds.

> Ken Gregory, Monkton
In 1987, during the night of the Hurricane, I was asleep until my wife woke me at about 2 am to tell me that our roof had disappeared. I went out side and was wondering what was flying in this wind, they were black and looked in the light of my torch, like big bats. It was only when one of these 'bats' stuck itself onto the telegraph pole in our front garden then I realised they were slates from other peoples roofs. Before I decided to go in doors to see what the damage was like in the morning, I witnessed the loft of our local undertaker exploding with an avalanche of coffins escaping into the street. 

> R. Hutchins, West Kingsdown
In October 1987, I was working in a local pub in Farningham and remember cursing the fact that the door to the bar kept on blowing open. After the pub had closed, I went out to drive home in totally calm conditions and clear starry skies. The next time I woke up at about 2:30am to what sounded like five or six huge freight trains going past right outside my bedroom window. As there was no power and everywhere was pitch black, when I looked out of the window, the only thing I could see was a neighbour going round his house with a torch looking towards his roof.
The rest of the night was spent listening to the horrific sound of wind, flying dustbins, trees cracking and what sounded like half of our roof taking off.
Around 7am, I finally ventured out fearing the worst, but in fact we were relatively intact. Only a small section of our garage roof had gone AWOL.
I tried in vain to drive to work in Orpington but the devastation was huge, trees all over the roads, part of the petrol station roof in Farningham was lying in the road, so I turned around and went back home.
The rest of the day was spent repairing what could be repaired and helping neighbours who had suffered worse.
It was not a night or day that I will ever forget. 

> Bill Beedie, Ramsgate
I have vivid memories of the "hurricane" - waking after a fitful night's sleep [rattling windows etc.] to the dripping of water on the bed! We'd lost some slates from the roof, and rainwater was coming through the roof and ceiling. There was a power cut, so we gathered what torches and candles we could, and got some pots and buckets in the loft to catch the rain. I also believe that was my introduction to BBC local radio on our "tranny", to catch up on what was going on. We were feeling a bit sorry for ourselves until we saw how relatively lucky we had been. And of course, I believe Michael Fish was right - strictly, it was not a "hurricane" - it just felt like one! 

> Daren Park
I was the tender age of 18 in 1987 and like most people living and working in the South East the Great Storm came of something of a shock. As people will remember the Met office didn't give any warnings the previous night so nobody knew anything was even coming. My main memory was of the constant wind against my bedroom window that night and the heavy gale force gusts at regular intervals. I went to bed that night as I would any other thinking that this wind would just blow itself out and all would be well the next day. However during that night I could hear rather than see bin lids being flicked up into the air and hitting the road outside. I got up and looked up at the clouds which had deep black pockets and looking nothing like I had ever seen before and hopefully never again. The howl of the wind was almost like a rabid dog trying to get into the house and tear off the roof itself. The following day I couldn't get to work as a large oak tree had fallen across the main road at the bottom of the street.