Making heavy weather of the Great Storm
SIR – Having read your article on “The Great Storm” of 1987 (October 12), I think it is time to put the record straight and exonerate Michael Fish for his fateful weather report 30 years ago.
On the previous Sunday’s BBC programme Countryfile, he had stated that Thursday night (October 15/16) was going to be very stormy. He was spot on. As for his comment on the Thursday evening forecast that a hurricane was not forthcoming, he was again correct. There were hurricane-force gusts, but that in no way constitutes a hurricane. I have lived in Florida for the past 25 years and have experienced several hurricanes.
Having also lived through the 1987 storm (in Hampshire), I can say that it did not compare with the ferocity of a true hurricane. Witness, by contrast, the immense damage and deaths caused by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria this year – currently estimated to have caused more than $180 billion (£135 billion) of damages. Bryan Goodyer Boca Raton, Florida, United States