In January 1953, a freak flood caused devastation in the seaside towns of East Anglia. Many reports written at the time give historians an idea of the effects the floods had and how events unfolded. The Women's Voluntary Service report has been used here to create this timeline of events. In a few hours 32,000 people lost their homes and 307 people drowned.
A depression off the coast of Iceland was spotted on the 30th January, which was deepening at an alarming rate. At this point it was hundreds of miles off the coast of the Hebrides but Scotland was already feeling it's gale force winds.
The Met (Weather) Men watched on in horror as the depression began to move east into the South sea. The wind begins to pick up with winds reaching 140mph which sucked 15 billion cubic feet of water was sucked from the Atlantic sea into the North sea creating a 'sea surge'
Canvey Island was where the worst flooding and the greatest loss of life occurred. On the evening of January 31. a tidal surge broke through a sea wall on the northern side. The Centre Organiser for the W.V.S was marooned in her home all night long, she was rescued and made her way to the rest centre in South Benfleet where she worked tirelessly until she could return to the island fourteen days later. Chris (pictured above) was born during the floods he described the harrowing night of the floods "Most [people] died of hypothermia because the houses were mainly bungalows, the communication was so terrible it took a while to realise how bad the disaster was.' People were in bed asleep when the floods arrived, many residents whom were living in bungalows drowned as their homes filled up almost completely with sea water.
The surge hits Suffolk at 9:30pm, It hits Lowestoft. About 400 homes were flooded and 40 children had to be rescued from a flooded church. In the report the W.V.S laboured all night long alongside the Police station rescuing 'half drowned' people. They managed to get urns of tea going and did their best to assist people dealing with cases of exposure and shock. These events are still remembered today, and services are given in memory of these events. (See image)
As the waters hit Southwold, the town became encircled by water. In the low-lying Ferry Road, five people lost their lives. A witness of the flood, Mr Winter described the flood saying“The beach huts were being destroyed like matchboxes in a bath. I had a shed in Ferry Road – it was a heap of matchwood when I got there." Mrs Aitken from the Women's Voluntary Service describes that Southwold has become an 'Island' due to the flooding, the severity of the flooding suffered by Southwold is evident.
The W.V.S were called out at 9:30, by 10:30 they had arrived at the police station which was fully in action. The W.V.S told the police they would set up a Rest Centre. By 11:00 a Homestead was set up with blankets and other essentials were fetched from the Red Cross Headquarters.
The Policecalls from Felixstowe Ferry, Landguard Point and Landguard Fort. A woman was swept away at Landguard and immediately officers were sent to start evacuation procedures.
The water tore across Trimley Marshes and came crashing into Walton Avenue Caravan Park.
Following the Call Out the Women's Voluntary Service began to set up Rest Centres in places like Lowestoft and Felixstowe. The Women's Voluntary service tackled this problem with resourcefulness.
In Felixstowe, prefabs in Langer road filled with floodwater, many were trapped inside their sea-filled homes and drowned in their homes. Those who survived managed to climb onto the roofs of their houses and await rescuers. Rowing boats were taken from Butlin's fun park and the rescue operation began, The Cavendish hotel was transformed into a rest centre.
In Harwich, the whole of the bathside area had been flooded up to depths of 19 feet. The WVS Centre Organiser, who had only been appointed for two weeks was asked to set up a Rest Centre, this Rest Centre was functional by 3:30am.
Early in the morning, a clothing depot and a Rest Centre were opened at St. Margaret's Institute. There was no gas but electricity was soon restored, people in nearby houses boiled water for the Rest Centre. Beds and Bedding were loaned to the centres from nearby holiday camps.
Mrs Aitken of the Women's Voluntary Service was rung 'early in the morning' and given information of the disaster. The W.V.S were went to Walberswick where all communication had been cut. They evacuated flooded householders who were described as 'shocked, depressed and very tired' yet they were 'grateful for the willing hands.'
The worst area in Samford was Wherstead, about thirty houses and bungalows near the River Orwell were flooded to about 5 feet. The village representative allowed the flood victims to recuperate in house and provided them with food. She also arranged for members of the village to come and help clear away the mess from the flooded houses.
The storm claimed the lives of 307 people in the UK and the level of devastation caused was unlike anything seen before in the UK. Around 1600km of coastline was damaged, which in turn left miles of seawall damaged. 160,000 acres of land was destroyed by sea water which left the land unusable for agricultural purposes for a number of years. A number of livestock and domesticated animals were either killed or washed out to sea. 24,000 homes in the UK were destroyed or damaged and around 40,000 people were left homeless.
Linked here is footage from the 1953 floods in Suffolk and East Anglia. Clip was taken from the Floods of East Anglia DVD.
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