GREAT STORM IN LONDON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11195, 16 October 1899, Page 6

GREAT STORM IN LONDON.

UNPRECEDENTED SPECTACLE. MIDNIGHT DARKNESS AT NOON. TREMENDOUS LIGHTNING AND RAIN, b IMMENSE DAMAGE.

[FBOJI OUB OWN CORP.ESPOXDE.YI.] t Loxdo.v, September 8. eAt last! After more than two months of p blazing, scorching sunshine and almost total T painlessness, a welcome change has come— and come with a bang! On Monday and Tuesday the heat was n again intense. The thermometer rose to 1 oS degrees in the shade on Monday, and on Tuesday it touched for the third time P this summer the exceptional point of 90 in t the shade. During Tuesday night the atg mosphere was stifling, the temperature re- ■- maining well above 70. and on Wednesday 5 morning it became still stiSinger. People e could not walk or breathe; thev simply - lounged about and gasped. And the air : steadily darkened. jj I hen at midday there came the rapid approach of a darkness that was absolutely J I awful in its sombre blackness. Quicklv the . obscurity becam-; that of midnight, and everyF where the gas and electric lights had to s be brought into plav. And then in a moment the great storm burst over us. Flash ? after flash of intensely vivid lightning, com--0 ing from three different quarters of the • heavens, and accompanied by tremendous a and almost deafening thunder, with a fierce -1 squall- of wind, and with such a torrential 1 1 deluge of rain as is seldom seen outside the e j tropin, made up a general total that was 3 J exceedingly picturesque, highly interesting | to watch— under cover— cleans"- | ing to the air and the drains, but also sadlv j 1 destructive. lor tee resistless flood broke in everv- . where. The Temple quadrangle, viewed r from the back windows of your London f office, presented a gratuitous exhibition of 3 varied and brilliant waterworks—fountains. - cascades, nd spouts of a remarkably effective character, especially when illumined by » the aright lightning under the dense pail _ or canopy of inky, yet greenish, cloud. That was all right. Bat the thousands of citizens 5 whose cellars, basement storeys, and even t ground floors were flooded, whose shops and : offices were turned into temporary lakes. - the stairs into cascades, and the roofs ; into invigorating, but mischievous, shower--1 baths, could not be expected to appreciate • duly the picturesque side of the phenomenal • tempest. Nor did the beauty of the light- _ ning appeal to the admiration of several J whose premises were "struck" and seriously j damaged. j It is assent! that more places were struck by lightning during the short storm j of Wednesday, which lasted only half-an- - hour, than ever before in London during 1 so brief a period. The spire of St. Mary's > j Church. two warehouses off Cheapside. two > houses in Seven Dials, business places in : Bread-street and Liverpool-street, and 1 several trees in the parks, were struck and ' more or less damaged by the lightning, but . only one man senilis to have been injured. No description, however, could exaggerate i the fury of the rain-storm. Merely to say i that exactly lir.an exceptional fall for a > whole day's heavy downpour— registered I iii 25mir., at the Meteorological Office, gives 1 but a faint and pale idea of the experi- ' elite. Never before lias London been so 5 | completely flooded. The gratings and gut- • ! tors. no doubt, had become somewhat, j | choked through the long drought and accu- , } nidation of dust, leaves, etc. But at their , I best they would have been utterly inadequate Ito receive such a deluge. And so the 1 j streets were converted into raging riveis. ■ j A vast cataract of turbid water rushed down • ' the neighbouring slopes upon Trafalgar 1 ' Square and Whitehall, tearing un the road--1 ! way and then getting underneath the wood j , and cor.: ate surface, which it raised several I i fe-.t. ar.d converted into a solid bat undu(l Wiry ar,d turbulent sea. In soaie cases . I the surface broke up, and then the contused . j swirling mass of water, and mud. and I 1 wooden Mo ■!-;«. an ! ston.. cobbles presented f ! an extraordinary spectacle, such as has never ■, I ..-fore been seen in London— all events in • j modern times. ' ! Onward went the furious torrent, gaining i accretions from the side streets, deluging I 1 ail the cellars, areas, and ground-fl wrs in j its course. It made a fierce rush into the j yard oi the House of Commons, and the I . Horse Guards' Parade, which at once became j . deep and agitated lakes: then into West-j • minster Hall. St. Margiret's Church, and , even into the venerable Abbey itself, which ' • never, in all its 900 years of existence, has ] ' experienced such an inundation. It was the I > j same story everywhere. One basement. [ j stood 9;'t deep in water, and many had 6ft i ' : and 7ft. Plenty of people had quit? a flp;t ! sailing about in their ground-floor rooms— ' i I the ships being represented by tables, j , j chairs, and other furniture. Every part of! i' London and its environs shared in the re- 1 markable visitation. | r But one of the most serious effects was the ! conversion of the Underground Railway into ' a formidable river, all traffic being stopped ■ for nearly two hours, and much anxiety be- | ing felt lest the,violence of the flood should 1 have disturbed the foundations of the many , gigantic buildings which tower above the , subterranean line. These are still being closely watched, but it is hoped that there : has been no material weakening. In South London the flood was particularly : severe, and all traffic was interrupted on the roads, while thousands of houses were badly ' inundated. The Thames tunnel was filled | tor a time with storm water, and nearly all the London railway stations were under water. It seemed almost incredible that such widespread mischief and damage could have been caused by a single half-hour's downpour, but such was the fact. And that half-hour over, the storm ended even more suddenly than it started ; the sun shone out again brightly and hotly, and all was peace—and slush!