| Blackpool Storms and Floods |
| When high tides are coupled with strong winds the tide can wash over the Promenade. Rising sea levels can only make this worse.
Right: visitors and residents alike are fascinateed when the sea crashes up against the sea wall. But all people should remember that the sea has immense power. A wind-driven tide can rip chunks of concrete out of the Promenade. A human body can be dragged out of reach in no time at all. Blackpool has had its tragedies. Respect the sea and do not get too close when it is raging! |
 |
 |
The night of 8-9th October 1981. The gales coincided with the release of the second Star Wars film, "The Empire Strikes Back" and I phoned the daily newspapers to see if there was any interest in pictures of the damage to the Illuminations tableaux under the by-line "The Weather Strikes Back".
As I was speaking to the Daily Mirror, news came through of the IRA's Hyde Park bomb. I
must have been one of the first (if not the first) person outside London to hear of it. |
 |
Nothing dates as quickly as news and a day later it was no longer news.
This was one time when I missed my chance through no fault of my own! |
 |
 |
1981 took the people of Blackpool by surprise later in the year, when an
unusually heavy fall of snow caused chaos.
Due to the salty sea air, Blackpool receives very little snow and normally what does
fall is gone inside of a couple of hours. This lasted three days and the Corporation left
it to freeze solid, thinking that it would simply melt as usual. Drivers were left with
little choice but to drive wherever the solid ruts took them... |
 |
 |
1982 and the sea breaks over the sea wall at South Shore, filling the gardens
and turning them into lakes. |
 |
|
