Windfall

SIR – I remember the Great Storm of 1987 (Letters, October 18). At that time I was general manager of a glass and glazing company, and organised the 24-hour boarding service.

In the very early hours of October 16 I received a phone call requesting that we board a broken window at a local shopping centre. Unaware of the conditions, I sent our man out to do the job.

On arriving, he parked close to the shop. As he opened the van to get the boards, the wind took the door completely off its hinges and straight through another shop window. It was the first – then second – of several windows boarded that night.

In the following days we were unable to keep up with the demand for greenhouse glass. Never was trade so good.

Owen Hay

Colchester, Essex