On this day, 70 years ago, a violent storm blew across Western Europe. It claimed 130 lives when a car ferry, the MV Princess Victoria, was sunk on passage between Stranraer in Scotland and Larne in Northern Ireland. Its bow doors were smashed by a huge wave, causing flooding of the cardeck and the sinking of the vessel.
Further north, the MV Clan MacQuarrie was blown ashore on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis near the village of Borve. Amidst atrocious conditions, the Coastguard managed to take all 66 crew ashore, safe and well, as well as the ship's cat. The crew were put up in the village and in the town of Stornoway, 15 miles away. The event is commemorated in a community hall in Borve; the original hall, replaced in 2009, was put up with funds from the shipping company.
The storm caused a massive storm surge in the south of the North Sea, pushing waterlevels to 15 feet above normal. This breached sea defences in the east of England, from Hunstanton in Norfolk to Canvey Island in the Thames Estuary. Dozens of people were lost in many villages, 49 in Canvey, with the total death toll reaching 307.
The same storm surge breached the dykes in the southwest of the Netherlands, causing extensive flooding and loss of life. The death toll reached 1,836, not to mention the tens of thousands of head of cattle that were drowned.
A friend of mine, who lived in Barvas, 4 miles south of
Borve, told me the story that the water tank in the village was blown
off its pedestal. A window in their house was blown in as well through
the force of the winds.
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