Orders of the Day — Flood Disasters

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 19 February 1953.

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Photo of Mr David Maxwell Fyfe Mr David Maxwell Fyfe , Liverpool, West Derby 12:00, 19 February 1953

The disaster which befell the country during the night of 31st January and 1st February is so much in the minds of us all that I need not go into great detail in describing it. The tragic loss of the steamer "Princess Victoria," the great storm damage in Scotland, and the terrible damage and loss of life in the Eastern Counties will, as the House has just indicated, remain in the memory of us all for a long time, but I think the House will wish me to begin by summarising very briefly the extent of the disaster and the immediate steps which were taken.

The main meteorological factor leading to the disaster was an exceptionally severe and widespread northerly gale in the North Sea which developed over Scotland and Northern England on the Saturday morning and later spread southwards to the Dutch coast. This gale not only caused a substantial rise in the sea level in the southern part of the North Sea, coinciding with the time of the spring tides, but also developed heavy seas which pounded the sea walls.

The tidal conditions that night were far worse than anything that previous experience could have led us to expect or provide against. After the flooding of Horsey, in Norfolk, and elsewhere, in 1938, new standards were set for sea defences; and when, in 1949, record tidal levels were reached and floods occurred in many places, still higher standards for sea defences were adopted. Yet the tides on the night of 31st January were nearly two feet above the record tides of 1949, and the sea defences were over-topped for a great part of their length. The scale of the disaster was increased by the fact of the water coming through the defences when it was dark, so that people were trapped in their homes.

I turn now to an assessment of the damage in England. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland will be speaking later about storm damage north of the Border. The number of dead is now reported to be 307, and this total includes 11 persons formerly reported as missing but now presumed to be dead; and the police, on the last information available to them, are not now aware of any persons unaccounted for. I should like to place on record our deep regret that 17 Americans lost their lives in the floods and that 67 American families in the flooded area lost their possessions.

Over 32,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes, some 7,000 had to be looked after by public authorities for some days—some 2,000 are still in rest centres—and the others made their own arrangements for accommodation. The hardships caused by the flooding and the bad weather were increased by dangers due to damaged sewerage systems and to the presence of mines washed in from the sea. Twenty-three mines had to be dealt with by the Service authorities.

There were breaches in the sea wall from the East Riding of Yorkshire down to Kent varying from small cracks to gaps hundreds of yards in length. Over 1,200 breaches have been listed by the river boards. Some low-lying islands, such as Foulness, were almost completely submerged

The total area of agricultural land flooded on the night of 31st January was in the region of 150,000 to 175,000 acres, some 64,000 acres being arable land and some 79,000 acres being grassland. But this, fortunately, is not as bad as it sounds. Two-thirds of the flooded area was under water for only a short period, and only about one-third of the total area flooded will have been seriously affected by the salt water.

Thanks to excellent salvage work by the local farming community—and what work these words of mine connote—losses of stock were lighter than might have been expected; but, nevertheless, upwards of 1,000 cattle, 8,000 sheep, 1,500 pigs and about 20,000 poultry were lost.

The damage to private dwellings cannot yet be accurately stated, but preliminary surveys show that about 25,000 houses were flooded and that 350 to 450 were destroyed. In addition, 200 houses may be beyond repair. This, however, is no measure of the loss to individuals, for when the houses were flooded much furniture was destroyed or badly damaged. Many houses had inches or even feet of sand washed into them, and others were thick with evil-smelling mud.

Our sympathies must also go out to the relatives of the 38 members of the crews of the three trawlers who lost their lives when their vessels foundered with the loss of all hands in the storms of that fateful week-end. In addition, a number of small inshore fishermen in England and Scotland had their boats smashed or badly damaged and have been deprived, at least for a time, of their normal means of livelihood.

Let me turn for a moment to industrial establishments. Extensive damage was caused to business and industrial premises. Three oil refineries were affected. The one at Shellhaven was partly flooded, but the damage was slight and the refinery is in full operation. It may be two months before the new refinery at Coryton can be restarted. The date of commissioning of the refinery in the Isle of Grain, which is near completion, has probably been put back for about a month. The damage to these refineries does not mean that there is any imminent threat of a shortage of petrol in the United Kingdom.

A number of gas and electricity installations were affected, but for the most part. thanks to the efforts of local staffs. output is almost back to normal. Several factories were affected by flooding, the most seriously affected being a margarine factory at Purfleet. The factory will probably have to be re-wired, and most of the 500 tons of margarine in store will be useless for human consumption. About 2,000 tons of cereals have been damaged in various stores, but most of it will be fit for animal feeding.

The most serious loss of foodstuffs is of raw sugar. A considerable proportion of a stock of about 66,000 tons at Purfleet has been lost. A number of small busi- nesses and shops have been hard hit by the floods, and the efforts made by many shop keepers to maintain their service to the public are deserving of high praise.

The hospitals had to deal with a number—