Thurrock Local History Society: The East Coast Floods of 1953
The Perfect Storm – The East Coast Floods of 1953 – Michelle Savage
AT our first meeting of the season we welcomed Museum Officer Michelle Savage. Her talk was entitled The Perfect Storm, focusing on how the floods on the night of 31st January/1st February 1953 affected Thurrock. Using various maps and charts she illustrated the path of the storm. A 1000 mile stretch of coastline was affected, 32,000 people were evacuated, 307 drowned, there was death of livestock and 40,000 acres in Essex flooded. Historically south-east England has been gradually sinking, with a constant battle with sea levels. Industry built up in the area but there was no buffer with the sea, rendering it vulnerable to floods. The Essex Rivers Board was set up, erecting some concrete walls in the 1930s. Several storm surges created breaches in the sea wall triggering Operation King Canute and for the RAF to be on call in emergencies – that was the situation in 1953.
On the night of 31st January a deep depression started in the Atlantic, with hurricane winds, striking north-west Scotland first, when 136 people drowned in the Princess Victoria. The storm turned south-east with water being funnelled down, eventually to the Thames, coinciding with a spring tide. The coast was inundated; road, rail and telephones were cut off. At 11.20pm a lookout at Tilbury Fort spotted water coming over the sea wall, when police and the Port of London Authority were alerted. At midnight Grays police saw that the river was only a foot below the sea wall, when Scotland Yard was sent a message about the exceptionally high tide. By 12.15am water engulfed Shell Refinery, with Fobbing farm under water and Tilbury Fort staff being evacuated to the World’s End Pub. At 1am the tide continued to Tilbury town, including the sewage works, with raw sewage contaminating the water. Residents were alerted by banging on their doors. The whole of the town and docks were flooded, including 2500 houses and the fire station.
Purfleet was also badly affected and were warned at 1am. Van den Berghs & Jurgens, Thames Board Mills, Esso and the railway were all under water. Reels of paper from the board mills were swept away and employees scrabbled to higher ground. The spreading water caused chaos, but only one death was reported in Thurrock, an old lady trapped in her downstairs toilet. Thurrock was therefore let off lightly, although various industries suffered, also animals. Gas and telephone lines were out of service. Many people volunteered to help – too many in some cases. The gaps where the sea walls were breached at Purfleet were closed by staff at Van den Berghs using sandbags and rubble. Their sports club was used to set up an emergency food unit by the Ministry of Food, giving out 2000 meals a day.
The problem at Tilbury was 6000 people who were homeless, so relief centres were set up. Military lorries helped and they also used boats from the boating pool in Grays. The Red Cross and St John Ambulance staff were involved, with bulletins issued showing where food and help were available; 6 ounces of sweets were given to everyone at the rest centres, at a time when they were still on ration. The RSPCA collected stray animals for collection later. It was a huge effort and local businesses offered special discounts to flood victims for new floor covering etc.
The RAF were drafted in and provided heaters to dry out houses, known as Windy Willies. All houses had to be checked by utility companies before being occupied again. On 3rd February the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret visited Tilbury, followed by Queen Elizabeth II on the 13th. Records were kept of rest centre numbers, with all families back home by 21st February. On 7th March the last rest centre closed.
The Coroner’s report stated that there was no adequate working system for coastal defences. In the 1960s satellite imaging helped with forecasts and in 1982 the Thames barrier was built, opened by the Queen in 1984. Michelle Savage’s well-illustrated talk showed how powerful the weather is. We face rising sea levels due to climate change in the future – even King Canute could not control the waves – the power of the sea cannot be controlled by man.
Our next meeting is at 8pm on Friday 20th October at St John’s Church Hall, Victoria Avenue, Grays, when Joseph Cooper’s talk will be on Local History Archives in the library. Visitors are welcome.