Fearful Hurricane and Destruction of Property

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hahaya2004
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Fearful Hurricane and Destruction of Property

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Fearful Hurricane and Destruction of Property
Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald 09th February 1856


Ardrossan and Saltcoats were, on Wednesday evening last, visited by the most severe storm which the district has experienced for the last sixty-four years. It began to blow very hard early in the evening, and continued to increase in force till two o'clock in the morning, when it gradually took itself off, and when daybreak dawned it was comparatively subsided. The sea was lashed to a dreadful fury, and an eye witness of its appearance at the harbour of Ardrossan, about two o'clock in the morning, informed us that it was one vast sheet of foam. Of its strength and capabilities of destruction we will have more to say anon, but a conception of the immense magnitude of the tide may be conceived when we mention that, in Ardrossan, it lifted out of the old harbour the curt-iron punt containing the steam-engine, and drove high up on the beach the brig " Lively." In Dockhead Street, Saltcoats, the water rose to the window sills, and spread nearly to the head of Green Street, and to the steeple in Countess Street. Nothing could exceed the consternation in Dockhead Street and Quay Street. Those on the ground floors had to betake themselves to a higher storey, and but few slept during the night. Women were shrieking for help, and no one was able to pass along any distance. On hearing the cries, Mr Stirling, painter, attempted to pass Mono- Dockhead Street, but was so impeded with both water and wind that he could not reach even the next door, and had consequently to return. In Mr Brydon's house in Quay Street the water on the ground floor was as high as 14 inches, and would have been much higher had the inmates not taken the precaution to barricade the door.

ARDROSSAN.
The most serious damage done at Ardrossan is that to the New Harbour Works. The pitching of the old breakwater at the junction with the extension, was torn up. 'the new wall was thereby undermined, and. about 140 feet of it thrown down. The foundations are supposed to be all right, and the damage done is, therefore, not so severe as it at first may seem. The wall opposite to the Graving Dock was thrown down, and, as an evidence of the strength of the wind, one of the cope stones was carried to the opposite side of the road. The wall, too, in front of Provost Barr's new villa, and a new brick wall which enclosed the garden, have shared the same fate. In the dock, the schooner, " British Queen," of London, was driven from her moorings, by which she carried away the main topmast of the schooner, "Glasgow", of Dumfries, and sprung the bowsprit of the brig, "Industry", of Saltcoats. She afterwards drifted alongside of the brig "Commerce", of Ardrossan, and chaffed her bowsprit considerably. As mentioned before, the " Lively", of Saltcoats, was driven from her moorings in the old harbour, and has received considerable damage, having been driven through the timber pond amongst the logs, and, after the receding of the tide, she fell over on her bilge on the end of two logs. Several of the harbour punts and other small boats were also driven from their moorings and received damage, and one completely shattered. On Thursday forenoon the schooner "Sarah" of Killough, from Belfast for Liverpool with oats, put into Ardrossan, having her jibboom, mainboom, and part of her bulwarks carried away, and her water casks stoved. At Arran Place the sea must have come up with great volume, for all along the footpath in front of the Pavilion, Mr Young's villas, and the others in the Crescent, there were several inches of sand, shells, and debris. Several of the farm-steadings in the vicinity have received damage, amongst others may be mentioned Mr Chalmers' of Parkhouse, and Mr Baillie's of Springvale. So numerous are the chimney stalks that have fallen, and houses stripped of lead and slates, that we can take no account of them.

SALTCOATS.
In the morning, the streets of Saltcoats presented a most dreary aspect. The Dockhead and Quay-street were ankle deep in mud, thatch, broken tiles, slates, &c., and from many of the houses the inmates were busy casting out pailfulls of water. A boat-house on the harbour belonging to Mr Cunninghame of Seabank, has been completely destroyed; the wall at the back of the Saltpans undermined, and the wall at the head of the dock almost completely washed away. The sea had found an opening near to the Saltpans, and had washed from underneath the Railway stones, &c., and that part of the road is completely destroyed. The wall, too, which was destroyed about three years ago opposite to the Railway station, has again become a wreck. Many of the houses in Crofthead-street, Dockhead-street, and Quay-street, have had their roofs torn off; and those which have been damaged by the loss of slates, are numberless. Although the amount of damage done in Saltcoats, will not be so great as in Ardrossan, yet here it was more appalling, from the invasion of the sea into so many houses, creating an alarm, which can be imagined better than described. The darkness of the night—the fury of the winds, and the height of the water, all combined to excite the terror of the inhabitants in those streets, which were the immediate scene of the disaster. One man, missing his wife and child, forced his way along Dockhead-street, crying that they were lost, and everywhere the shouting and the screams rent the air, and helped to increase the confusion.

STEVENSTON.
The damage done at Stevenston has been confined to thatch, slates, and lead. We are happy to state, that none of the tall stalks at the works have suffered. We hear that Mr Lockhart of Mayville, has received a loss in some of the stacks in his yard being blown down, and a quantity of the stuff destroyed.

WEST KILBRIDE.
The road towards West Kilbride has been completely washed with the sea, and is covered with stones and debris, and part of an embankment destroyed. The damage done in the town, is like that of Stevenston, confined to slates, thatch, and lead.

ARRAN.
The Island of Arran has not passed unscathed. On the Island it is said that upwards of a thousand trees have been torn up by the roots. Many of them not fewer than one hundred years of age. Houses were unroofed, and the small boats which were left out of reach of high water, were thrown on the street at Lamlash. Four vessels were driven ashore on the Holy Isle—names unknown. Two smacks were swamped, and the government hulk was lifted two feet above high water mark. The " Londonderry" came into collision with a large ship and lost her jib-boom, and one of her small boats was damaged.
On Monday morning a large ship, the " Pilgrim," from New York to Liverpool, came into Lamlash Loch, water-logged. On Wednesday she broke from her moorings, and came into collision with a schooner which came from Troon on Thursday last, and some damage was sustained.

TROON.
Fearing that Troon would also be a sharer in the disasters produced by the storm, we despatched a special messenger to make inquiries on the spot. We were glad to learn that, comparatively speaking, the damage is not great, although a number of individuals have suffered. In the harbour, the " Clorinda," of Portaferry, broke from her moorings and went ashore in the east bay. The `"Magog," of Ayr, got adrift in the dock and did a little damage to the bulwarks and stanchions of the " Edward," Prussian schooner. Any other damage to the shipping was only such chaffing as might occur in an ordinary breeze. The tide came into the town by the back shore, and flooded the houses in the west side of Ayr Street and Portland Street. About three feet of water was in the streets, and from 18 inches to 2 feet in the houses. The most serious damage was done to the rope-work, belonging to Mr Currie. About 60 fathoms of wall was destroyed, and the boarding on the opposite side of the walk considerably damaged. The work itself was flooded to a depth of 4 ½ feet, and from the damage done he will be unable to do anything for eight days; the more to be regretted, as he is very busy with orders. His estimated damage is £150. Two boats have been destroyed, and chimney cans, slates, &c., have been torn off houses.

IRVINE.
On Wednesday night we were visited with a tremendous storm, which has caused a considerable amount of damage. Towards evening, the wind, which had been blowing fresh from the south-west, gradually increased in violence till midnight, when it broke forth into a hurricane, and "blew as it wad blawn its last." Daylight revealed its effects in the slates, thatch, and chimney cans that strewed the streets.
On the farm of Mares situated near the junction of the rivers Irvine and Garnock, the tide, driven with irresistible fury, swept over a large portion of its surface, whereby a large number of sheep were drowned. Some damage has been sustained by the shipping, but not to such an extent as was apprehended. We have heard of one house, where the chimney was driven through the roof, but fortunately the inmates were absent, and no personal injury was sustained. We have not heard of any loss of human life, nor serious accident, but look forward with trembling anxiety for tidings from the sea.

STRANRAER.
Our Reporter, while at Troon, met with a gentleman who had that morning come from a place seven miles beyond Stranraer. On his way to Stranraer, 30 carts were gathering up corn and wheat, which had been in the stack yards of farmers in that locality. A report was current in Stranraer, that a vessel was ashore at Port Dallas—seven of the crew drowned, and only one to tell the mournful tale. In coming out of the Loch in the "Scotia" steamer, he saw the effects of the storm in the rent sails of many of the vessels lying there; one of the vessels loaded with lime, had leaked through the night, and the lime had took fire. Several men were aboard, doing all they could by throwing it overboard to save the vessel. On the "Scotia" nearing Girvan. she observed two vessels, one of them with all sail set, in company with a brig dismasted. After landing her passengers at Girvan, she made for the brig, took her in tow and brought her into Ayr. The hawser broke three times before she reached Ayr; she turned out to be the "Hope", of Belfast, about 300 tons. She had broke from her moorings in Belfast Lough, and during this awful storm had been driven about at the mercy of the winds. The men appeared to be much worn out.

AYR.
We were last night visited with a storm exceeding in violence any we have experienced for the last twenty years. A stiff breeze from the southwest had been blowing during the afternoon, accompanied by heavy showers of rain and sleet, and towards evening it began gradually to gather strength, and continued so till about 12 o'clock, when it increased to a perfect hurricane. Numbers of chimney-tops were hurled into the street—houses were partially or wholly unroofed—garden palings and walls were levelled to the ground—lamps were broken, and lamp-posts cast down—and even the firmest houses shaken to their foundations. To add to the consternation of parties in the vicinity of the river and sea, the water, which should have reached its height about 12 o'clock, driven in by the violence of the wind, continued to rise for two hours after high water time. The river overspread its banks, and extended across the roads on either side, entering and flooding the houses, and carrying off everything that would float. The steamboat gangways on the south side of the harbour were washed into the river; and on the north side the whole of Mr Gordon's " hurries," for the shipment of coal, have been broken and destroyed. The water spread over the Newton Green as far as Mr Young's Vulcan Foundry, flooding the houses in its rear, On the north beach, the sea rushed over the wall recently erected to protect the Newton Green from its encroachments, and entered the houses in York-street, causing great damage; and even flooded the houses in York-street Lane behind: the water soon being on a level with the beds, and their inmates had some difficulty in escaping. Three of the gardens there are still perfect lakes. A few of the stones of the sea-wall in question have been sapped by the tide and forced out of their places; and portions of a wooden barricade erected farther up the coast have been swept away. On the south beach the sea broke over the Low Green wall, the whole of which, with the exception of about 100 yards next to the prison and a few of the steps, was swept away, scarcely one stone being left upon another, and many of them were carried twelve or fifteen yards into the green. In some places the sea encroached fifty yards into the green. It is feared that the South Pier head has sustained serious damage, and the Pier itself is rent and strained. A portion of the North Pier, recently put up, has also been washed away. In the harbour considerable damage. A number of small boats, we hear, have been sunk, and the shipping has sustained considerable injury. The timber in Mr Paton's wood-yard has been blown down, and a quantity of it destroyed. A weavers' shop in the Back Riggs, Newton, occupied by a man of the name of Morton, has been levelled with the ground. The New Free Church, in course of erection in Wallacetown and the fall of one of the gables of which we mentioned some weeks since, has been seriously damaged. The front gable, composed mostly of elaborate masonry, has been blown down, and one of the side walls has also been injured. In country districts great damage has been done to roofs and stack-yards. A row of stacks at Wheatpark, near Whitletts, were nearly cut in two, and the upper parts blown away and destroyed. These, so far as we could ascertain before going to press, were the results of the storm in our own locality; but there is too much ground for fear that next week we will have to record yet more distressing disasters by sea and land. We have heard stated that, by the fall of a chimney at Hurlford, two persons have been killed. —Advertiser

KILMARNOCK.
The stalk at Mr Barclay's foundry fell to the ground; but we are happy to say that no one was injured. No other damage of any consequence.

HURLFORD.
A Man and Woman Killed.—The damage done by the storm here was very considerable, and has resulted in the death of a man and his wife. A stalk of one of the pits belonging to Mr Howie, of Skerrington, by the violence of the storm, fell upon the house adjoining, and, unfortunately, the ploughman and his wife were killed. The circumstance is all the more painful from their having only been married at the New Year.

DALRY.
In common with every other place in the West of Scotland, we have suffered by the storm of Wednesday evening. The damage done to all descriptions of property is considerable, though fortunately no lives have been lost, and with the exception of two aged women, (Mrs Gilies, Vennel-street, and Mrs Stevenston[sic], North-street), both of whom were blown down and received injury. We have heard of no serious accidents. Wednesday was a dull day, with a light breeze from the south-west, and continued so till about 10 o'clock when, it began to blow fiercely; by midnight it had become terrific, and continued with unabated violence till two o'clock. The early morning revealed a melancholy scene of desolation; everywhere houses were unroofed, chimneys, and chimney cans blown down, and even the strong mason work in several places was displaced and hurled to the ground. The five large stalks at the Bridge-End Mills was cracked, and about 50 feet of it fell, crushing through the roof of the store-house immediately adjoining; fortunately the house was filled with bags of wool, which from its elastic nature, broke the shock and probably saved the entire building. Had the stalk fallen on the south or west side, it would have gone through either the mill or dwelling-house of Mr Biggart, thereby doing more damage than it has done, besides throwing numbers out of employment; indeed from nature of the accommodation at the mills, it could not possibly have fallen in any other direction. In the town the Free Church and West Church, both suffered—the former had the four pinnacles surmounting the tower blown down, while the latter lost two of the four adjoining its front; in both cases the direction of the wind carried the falling stones clear of the buildings. The Parish School, from its exposed position, suffered a partial unroofing, and nearly every house in the town was more or less injured. The accounts from the surrounding country, show a greater amount of loss than has ever before been sustained by a storm, within the memory of very old men. Scarcely a stack-yard. has escaped, while some are completely gutted. Many fine old trees at Blair, have been torn up by the root, while the road to Largs was obstructed in four or five different places, by trees which had stood the storms of 100 years, being thrown across. We have heard of one farmer, who had no less than 14 stacks scattered, and several others nearly as bad. One wreck deserves to be noticed—a travelling shooting saloon, which has been here for some time, caught the force of the storm, and was blown to pieces—not a stick of the wooden house, or a sheet of the iron funnel was left standing, but all scattered about—a woeful picture of desolation.

JOHNSTONE.
The damage done at Johnstone, consists of the fall of chimneys, houses unroofed, and destruction of agricultural produce. No lives lost.

PAISLEY.
A number of the plants and a considerable portion of the wall round Greenlaw Nursery have been destroyed. Mr Paul Campbell, calico printer, Blackhall, has suffered severely. His fine four storey brick printwork at Blackball has been levelled, and is now a complete ruin. In Neilson-street, a stack of chimneys were blown in; which penetrated the roof, but hurt no one. An immense number of chimneys blown down, and at Blackwood and Gordon's ship-building yard at Cartvale. A small steamer was driven out of the river, into an adjoining field.

DUMBARTON.
A portion of this town was under water, and the tide rose so high as to throw several crafts on the quays, and far up into the building yards. Considerable damage was done to the shipping, and all the ship building yards are scenes of desolation and wreck.

WALLACE'S OAK,
Wallace's Oak, which has stood for centuries as a land mark at Elderslie, and a memorial of the "great patriot hero—ill-requited chief", was uprooted by the gale. This venerable tree, has of late been dwindling away from mature decay. It was a monster of its kind, and was one of the largest in the country. It measured somewhere about four or five feet in diameter. Its fall removes one of the most ancient memorials of the great Sir William Wallace. It stood within a short distance of the mansion house, in which tradition says Sir William Wallace was born. This famous tree has often been robbed of its branches, for the purpose of manufacturing snuff boxes, and other fancy articles. A link between the past and Present has thus been swept away from the gaze of mankind.

GLASGOW.
The storm was no less severe in Glasgow, and the "Mail" gives a graphic description of "the incessant roar of the wind, varied by every imaginable sort of rumbling, clattering, and squaking, from falling stones, slates, and tiles, frail palings, joiners racks, and chimney cans and jennies. The damage done to the shipping has fortunately been very trifling.

GREENOCK.
The storm raged with great fury at Greenock. Vessels broke from their moorings, and there is the usual catalogue of fallen chimneys, &c. The bodies of a woman and child it is reported, have been picked up; and two men belonging to the "Gibbart Maid o' the Mill" are said to be drowned.
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meekan
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Re: Fearful Hurricane and Destruction of Property

Post by meekan »

Reading about this storm and thinking about all the major storms I have seen locally in my lifetime sets me wondering if climate change is entirely the cause of the severe weather that is being reported globally. Of course we must recognise the pollution we have been imposing on this planet but are the weather conditions only related to this or is it just Mother Nature doing what she does?

I am interested to hear other’s views.
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brian f
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Re: Fearful Hurricane and Destruction of Property

Post by brian f »

I live in East Anglia and it seems to me Winters are more milder and Summer is hotter.
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