The Late Hurricane, February 1856

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hahaya2004
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The Late Hurricane, February 1856

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From the Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald 16th February 1856

The late storm was one which probably exceeded in its fury and its destructive effects any that has visited our locality for many years. Those whose privilege it was to witness it at its height, describe the savage fury of the wind, the sheets of foam, and roar of the waves, accompanied as they were by fitful and lurid flashes from the iron-works in the midst of the intense darkness, as something awful, and fitted to produce the most lively impression of the presence of that Mighty One, "who commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind which lifteth up the waves".
The instrument used at the Greenock Observatory for measuring the strength of the aerial currents, was deranged at an early period of the gale, but the keeper, who is the person most competent to judge, reckons that its force was equal to a pressure of forty pounds on the square foot. If it amounted to this at Greenock, we may safely reckon that it was not less at Ardrossan. The force of the breakers of the Atlantic is computed at three tons on the square foot. The force of the waves in our narrow channel is, doubtless, much below this. But, even supposing that it only amounted to the half, that is, a ton and a-half, which is equal to six horses dragging at every square foot, it will help to give some idea of the tremendous stroke of the waves when hurled by a " mighty wind " against some opposing barrier, such as the new breakwater, whose solid masonry has been torn from its foundations, and its massive blocks tossed up on the quay like pebbles.
According to measurements taken on our shore, the sea rose 8 feet above its average level, and 6 feet above what it would have done had there been no storm. It is thus worthy of notice that the extreme height to which the sea rose was mainly owing to the force of the wind. The tide on the occasion was the first after new moon, and had not, therefore, reached its full stream. It is to be observed, however, that the stream at its height, three days afterwards, was not so high as that which usually occurs in the month of March. Had the hurricane, then, occurred at the time of the full stream in March, the tide would have risen probably three feet higher; and had this been the case, who can tell what would have been the consequences. Every ship would have been a wreck, our harbour an unsightly heap of ruins, and the half of Ardrossan laid prostrate on the ground. History furnishes us with accounts of catastrophes of the same kind equally appalling as this would have been. Calderwood mentions that, on the death of James the First, the sea rose high on our shores, and produced fearful devastation. Every unusual storm that occurs is always the greatest. We have a tendency to magnify the present at the expense of our recollection of the past. But it is to be observed that it is no unusual thing for a tempest to happen about the height of a stream. In the winter of 1849, a severe gale occurred during a stream, when the sea rose as high, at least, and did greater damage at some points than it did on this occasion; for the height at any given point depends, not upon the absolute height of the sea, but the direction of the wind at the time. And so late as 1853, the sea, driven in by a south-west wind, reached very nearly the same point, and did considerable damage, overthrowing the sea wall, tearing up the road and bursting through where the Provost's new house stands, and running up as far as the head of Glasgow Street.
These, and other facts which might be mentioned, lead us to the conclusion, that we may calculate upon the occurrence of tempests of an equally destructive character every three or four years, and render it within the range of possibility, if not of probability, that one may occur far exceeding in its destructive effects anything that Ardrossan has yet witnessed since it became a place of any consideration.
While all this reminds us of the impressive fact that we exist as a town and harbour by the sufferance of Him who ruleth the raging of the sea, and says to its proud waves, "hitherto shall ye come, and no farther," it has also its practical lessons for those who have to do with the construction of our sea walls, and the planning of our new streets and crescents, which are too obvious to require to be pointed out. One thing is evident, that the level of the road leading from the end of Montgomerie-street in front of the Provost's new house to Paisley-street, ought to be raised considerably, and if it is expected that parties should ever feu in the North Crescent, it should be placed, at least, 40 yards behind its present position in the plan, and the road in front laid off accordingly. For no one who has seen the present road, impassable as it has been several times within these few years, and especially who has seen, as of late, an iron barge floated over it on the strength of the waves, and borne up into the field thirty yards 'beyond, would ever think of setting down a house where he is liable to have the waves overnight thundering at his front door, or the jib-boom of a vessel thrust into his bedroom window.—Communicated.
The most important hour is always the present, the most significant person is the one opposite you right now, and the most necessary deed is always love. - Meister Eckhart (c.1260 - c.1328)
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