May Storm
Photos of a storm battering Calshot Harbour on Saturday 24th May 2014
from Tina Glass |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
More images taken on 24th May 2014 (above)
and on 26th May (left)
by Drew Campbell of the storm
attacking Calshot Harbour
Drew reports that on Friday 25th May
a combined PWD / Factory team
removed barges from the harbour using the crawler crane
and also sited the
smaller raft up higher off the quayside.
There was also a big clear-up of
materials and equipment
both then and on Saturday morning
to prepare for the forecast storm to minimalise any damage.
|
|
|
August Hail Storm
Dawn Repetto took this vivid photo
of a hail storm experienced in the Tristan da Cunha Settlement on 27th August 2013.
Frost is unknown in the Tristan village but snow falls on the mountain and can often be seen in winter and spring on the higher slopes of the fringing cliffs, especially above the Potato Patches.
Hail is rain which is thrust upwards into colder areas of the atmosphere where it freezes. The strong uplift given to air masses by the Tristan mountain can cause hail to form as it did on this wild August day. |
|
May 2012 Storm
Report from Tina Glass and Pictures from James Glass
of what is thought to be the most powerful easterly storm since the 'hurricane' of 21st May 2001
|
|
On the afternoon of Thursday 17th May it was heard that gale force winds were
predicted for Friday evening. Just before midnight on Friday 18th May howling
winds and rain awakened the majority of the island. There were gale
force winds of 50 knots from the East – East North East. This continued
for most of the night until the early hours of the morning, up until
midday when the wind changed into the NE – NW at 10-16 knots.
Because of all the rain there were lots of waterfalls when normally dry gulches flowed over the mountain cliffs.
There was quite a lot of damage due to the wind and rain.
The 100ft Jaguar Mast was blown over hitting the corner of the
Fisheries Department building. This mast was due to be dismantled but the wind
got there first. It was quite a disappointment as the satellite TV was
off but thanks to Andy and team had it working by Saturday evening.
Unfortunately the strong winds completely destroyed the playground
Wendy House and the debris from it then blew away and resulted in damage to Colin Hagan’s
garage, Piers Hagan’s potato shed and Stanley Swain’s house roof. The children are very disappointed as this was one of the
highlights of the playground which was built thanks to charitable
funding. See the Community News Page for details of the children's playground which now needs more funds to replace the damage.
Recently a project was started to build an old thatched Tristan cottage
that will become a live museum. Progress was going well, with the two
gable ends and the back wall erected, however the strong winds
blew down the east gable end and now only about a third is
left standing. This was devastating news as the pensioners involved
had put in lots of hard manual work to get to this stage.
Out at the Potato patches many potato sheds and one camping hut roof
was damaged.
This appears to have been the worst easterly wind since the severe 'Tristan Hurricane' struck on 21st May 2001 - see the separate 2001 Hurricane Page. Thankfully damage was relatively minor on this occasion, but a reminder of the vulnerability of the Tristan Settlement to gale damage. Chief Islander Ian Lavarello reported the village was 'all is back to normal now after the storm last week' on 23rd May. |
|
|
|
James Glass's photos taken on Saturday 19th May 2012
show Top and Above Centre - the storm engulfing Calshot Harbour which was cleared of fishing vessels
and Left and Right views of the 100ft Jaguar Mast which was blown down and damaged the adjacent Fisheries Department Building. |
|
Calshot Harbour's August 2010 Storm Damage
Pictures from Marie Repetto below show a sequence of photographs showing the storm of 9th August and subsequent which further damaged Calshot Harbour's West Pier. A full report and further pictures are featured on our separate Harbour News Page. |
|
|
|
Left: Swells overwhelm the harbour ; Centre: A swell sweeping over the wave wall into the harbour
Right:
A view looking across the lagoon alongside the 1961 lava flow towards Calshot Harbour.
The lagoon area has been proposed as an alternative site for the harbour. |
|
 |
June Storm causes harbour damage
David Morley reports that a bad storm on the night of Friday 19th June 2010 resulted in damage to Calshot Harbour. Some sea wall blocks near the bait station at the island end of the western breakwater were washed onto the quay. Some dolosse were also deposited on the quay. Operation Zest did not strap these blocks in place as they did on the breakwater itself. Thus we had a large gap in our sea defences.
|
Photographs taken by David Morley on Saturday 20th June show above
~ damaged vessels and debris on the harbour wall |
|
Below ~ the gaping hole in the harbour's defences |
There has been some damage to fishing vessels (and the cargo raft,which may have to go back to Cape Town for repair) and to Factory equipment (including power supplies and sea water pipes).
Repairs have since been made and the blocks are back in place. Vessels have been moved and the quay tidied up. So not too bad, but a reminder (if we needed it) of the impact of winter weather. On Saturday we were getting 8-10 metre swells.
|
|
|
Late June Storm lashes Tristan Cunha
Widespread Damage ~ No-one Hurt
Report from Administrator David Morley
During the night of Saturday 28th June 2008 Tristan saw one of the biggest storms (if not the biggest) since the May 2001 Hurricane. The weather deteriorated steadily throughout Saturday afternoon and by evening the wind (an East South Easterly) was blowing at over 60mph, with gusts at over 80mph. It eased down after midnight and by Sunday afternoon there was calm again.
|
|
'It was our first serious storm since arriving on Tristan, and two things will stick in my mind. The first is that rain was extremely salty – evidence of plenty of seawater mixed into the torrential downpour. The second was the extreme changes of air pressure indoors. Our ears regularly popped as we sat out the storm. It reminded us of a rapid aircraft descent.'
On Sunday 29th June at first light David drove around the Settlement on a damage assessment. He thought the community was lucky, as no-one was hurt, a few roofs were damaged (including David's home at The Residency) and there were some window breakages. The PWD storage warehouses have rather more daylight than before and there was minor damage to houses and Government buildings. But nothing too serious, although plenty of work to do to put things right.
Left : boarded up door to an island home after storm damage
|
Right : PWD Storage Warehouse damage
Far Right : Empty sea freight container lifted and blown over wall
|
|
|
The most striking result of the storm was the relocation of an empty sea freight container, blown over a wall into a field some 20 metres from its original location.
At the Patches two huts were destroyed, and there was a serious landslip on the cliff by the west road at the bypass. This has resulted in the road effectively moving uncomfortably closer to the edge of the island.
Right : A wooden container blown onto the approach path to the Administration Building.
Photos and report from David Morley 1st July 2008
|
|
|
|
Spring heralded by September snow falls
Claire Volkwyn has sent this early morning picture showing a dusting of spring snow at about 500 metres / 1500 feet above sea level on the upper slopes of cliffs backing the Settlement of Edinburgh. Two months into the 2007/8 fishing season summer seems a long way off as early risers (some fishing factory staff start at 6am) have an unusual white backcloth for their walk to work. |
|
Mid-Summer 2007 Rainfall gets gulches flowing
Despite Tristan da Cunha's heavy rainfall (over 1600mm at sea level annually), the porous volcanic ash soils mean that most rainfall infiltrates the soil and flows as ground water to springs along the beaches (and in occasional steams on plains including the Big Watron east of The Settlement). The exceptions are areas of peat bog, especially on the lower base, which act as a sponge and release water slowly in streams, often flowing in narrow valleys known locally as 'gutters'.
During heavy rain, excess water runs off the surface and into gulches, often deep ravines on the mountain slopes. These normally dry, boulder-strewn valleys suddenly fill up with water and disgorge their loads over the edge of the cliffs as waterfalls or torrents. Occasionally these sound like a thunder storm as huge boulders (up to 20 tonnes in weight) are rolled over the cliffs by the force of the water, disgorging them onto the plains below.
|
| This photograph taken on Tuesday 9th January by Janice Hentley shows the waterfall of Caves Gulch, and further east the cataracts of Plantation Gulch, as they disgorge their load of water, sand and stones to the outwash plain of Pigbite beyond the 1961 lava flow. |
News of June Storm received from Chief Islander Anne Green
Was it this storm that drove the Oil Platform A Turtle onto the reef at Trypot on Tristan's South-East coast? - see Newsof PXXI |
 |
Roofing Repairs
Men repair storm damage to the Mechanical Building in the Settlement on Monday 5th June. |
Sunday 4th June
Stormy again with high winds and heavy rain. Some small stones have washed down Hottentot Gulch again but you are still able to get past. Out west on the Patches Plain the floods have blocked the road going to the sheep pen and on the way out to the Bluff. Part of the fence has been torn down and a lot of gravel and mud has covered the grass plain.
|
 |
Saturday 3rd June
The bulldozer beginning to clear the way for vehicles to be able to cross Hottentot Gulch after the storms of 2nd June
|
 |
 |
Friday 2nd June
Tristan suffered torrential rain and very heavy seas. Fishing boats are seen, right, being brought from their usual storage at the back of Calshot Harbour to the top of the cliff.
|
 |
 |
Photographs above left, left, & right were taken on Saturday 3rd June after the worst of the storm was over. These views illustrate Tristan's perennial problem of safe sea access, and the lucky break that the injured Bulgarian sailor could be evacuated to Camogli Hospital on 25th May during an otherwise stormy period when the harbour was closed on many days. |
 |
 |
Settlement Area Storm Damage
Parts of the road next to the Prince Philip Hall and other Settlement roads are broken up by Friday's heavy rain, and Hottentot Gulch was in full spate and brought down thousands of tonnes of boulders and gravel, spilling down the sheer cliff slopes and across the Settlement Plain. The photograph, left, taken on Saturday 3rd June shows the debris blocking the main road westwards towards the Potato Patches - 'Tristan's M1'!
|
 |
Main Road blocked by May storm
Tristan da Cunha's main road, connecting The Settlement to the Potato Patches was blocked by flood debris brought down Big Sandy Gulch by a thunderstorm on the night of 15th-16th May 2006. This photograph was taken by Postmaster Ian Lavarello looking towards the pass between Hillpiece and the mountain cliffs, known as 'The Valley'. Tristan's gulches are normally dry as rain infiltrates soil and sinks into the porous ash soils, but surface run-off occurs during heavy storms and can often cause sudden floods which carry debris including lava boulders which cascade down the sheer mountain slopes and spill out onto the plains. Repairing the Patches road is a frequent job for Tristan's workforce. |
Repairs underway
Tristan's Transport Department were busy for several days removing debris from the main road, particularly at Hottentot Gulch and Big Sandy Gulch. Photographs below show work in progress on 18th May.
|
|
| |