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Great Flood of 1953: 60th anniversary events held | |
(about 11 hours later) | |
Survivors and relatives of those killed in one of the UK's worst natural disasters paused to remember the floods of 1953. | |
Sixty years ago the North Sea battered the east coast of England, surging two miles inland. | |
It was caused by a high spring tide, low pressure and exceptionally strong northerly gales. | It was caused by a high spring tide, low pressure and exceptionally strong northerly gales. |
The surge cost 307 lives in English coastal towns and villages. Many more died on the continent and at sea. | The surge cost 307 lives in English coastal towns and villages. Many more died on the continent and at sea. |
The Princess Royal attended a service at Chelmsford Cathedral to mark the anniversary, where she was introduced to guests connected with the Great Flood. | |
The service brought together survivors from Essex and further afield, including representatives from the Netherlands where 1,800 people were killed. | |
During the service, the horror on Canvey Island was re-enacted by children from a theatre workshop and three candles representing the lives lost in Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium were lit. | |
Smaller acts of remembrance took place across Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. | |
'Tragic and terrible' | 'Tragic and terrible' |
Shirley Orchard was 16 and living on Canvey Island with her father, mother and nine-year-old sister. She has a vivid memory of the disaster. | Shirley Orchard was 16 and living on Canvey Island with her father, mother and nine-year-old sister. She has a vivid memory of the disaster. |
She said: "We lived across a road which ended in Small Gains Creek where a lot of people lived in houseboats and we could hear them all screaming. We were lucky to have an upstairs room and were high enough to be above the water. | She said: "We lived across a road which ended in Small Gains Creek where a lot of people lived in houseboats and we could hear them all screaming. We were lucky to have an upstairs room and were high enough to be above the water. |
"My father had a general store and I worked there with him. It was the worst hit shop on the island as the water went in one end and out the other and damaged a lot of the stock. | "My father had a general store and I worked there with him. It was the worst hit shop on the island as the water went in one end and out the other and damaged a lot of the stock. |
"I did have a cry when I heard the story about the baby found floating in her pram. | "I did have a cry when I heard the story about the baby found floating in her pram. |
"The mother and father, as well as being friends of mine, were also customers in the shop. | "The mother and father, as well as being friends of mine, were also customers in the shop. |
"The last person I served that day was the mother of the baby and it was very sad as they had tried for seven years for a baby. | "The last person I served that day was the mother of the baby and it was very sad as they had tried for seven years for a baby. |
"They were both found dead sitting huddled up together just below from where they had left the baby. | "They were both found dead sitting huddled up together just below from where they had left the baby. |
"I remember we were taken off the island by army truck in the middle of the night." | "I remember we were taken off the island by army truck in the middle of the night." |
Hero of the hour | |
In Hunstanton, Norfolk, a smaller event was held to honour the late href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-21269277" >Reis Leming, the first non-Briton to win the George Medal for bravery in peacetime. | |
The American airman, who died in November aged 81, became the hero of the hour when the floods struck by single-handedly rescuing 27 people, despite not being able to swim. | |
His widow, Kathy Leming, travelled to the town from Oregon in the US along with his daughter, Debra and son, Michael, who wore his father's flying jacket. | |
Mrs Leming said: "It's just amazing to me that this community values him so much. | |
"To me he was just the normal man I lived with for 40 years. But I come here and I see his name everywhere and it is really touching." | |
A bus was named in his honour before a procession along the town's seafront and an unveiling of a new Reis Leming Way street sign by his family. | |
About 24,000 homes were damaged and more than 30,000 people moved to safety during the floods, which affected 1,000 miles of British coast. | |
More than 177 were lost at sea in fishing boats and more than 130 on the ferry Princess Victoria, which was sailing between Scotland and Ireland when it sank. | More than 177 were lost at sea in fishing boats and more than 130 on the ferry Princess Victoria, which was sailing between Scotland and Ireland when it sank. |