When did the first flood happen in norwich?

Answer 1

Great Flood of 1912A full story of the Great Flood of August, 1912, would have needed the columns of several newspapers to adequate justice to its telling. Not a town, not a hamlet, throughout East Anglia, but has its tale of woe to record of property irretrievably lost or damaged.The farmer, who saw his crops and stacks saddened with rain, but something akin to ruin fell upon many small property holders in the city and county, who saw their little all wasted away by the raging torrents. Tens of thousands of acres of rich cornland and rare pasturage vanished as completely as though they had been conjured away at the spell of some evil wizard; a city as rich in English history as the meadows and cornfields around her are rich in agricultural abundance, was crippled and thrown into blank despair in the day and utter darkness at night.Thousands of her poor were washed out of their homes in the lower suburbs along the riverside homeless and helpless but for swift aid which came to them from more fortunate citizens. At one time the Cathedral was actually in danger.Broadland was davasted. At the height of the season, when the winding tidal waters of Eastern England are bright with happy yachtsmen and grey with the hugh sails of wherries and yachts, the tornado burst with demon fury, and Broadland became as much of a swamp(and more) than it was before the land was reclaimed ages ago.Here and there loss of life had to be recorded, though happily, in rare circumstances. The distress that followed such a calamity can only be very inadequately described, the full story of which will probably never be known. One can only judge it by the vast acreage over which the waters spread with remarkable rapidity. With bridges down in all directions, roads many feet deep in places, the rail services disorganised in every direction, districts became isolated from one another and from the rest of the world. For a considerable while Norwich was absolutely cut off from outside communications; one or two visiting pressmen spoke of it as "an island" and the description was fairly correct. Water hemmed the city in on all hands.For over twelve hours on Monday, August 26th. East Anglia and Norfolk in particular, was deluged by an almost tropical downpour, railway, telephone and road communications with the outside world being almost entirely cut off, and immense damage to property ensuing, both in Norwich and the country districts. In the twelve hours close upon six inches of rain had fallen, and what this means may be gathered from the fact that one inch of rainfall brings down with just over 100 tons to the acre.These figures eclipse all previous records not only for the Eastern district, but for the British Isles, The deluge, which was general within a forty - mile radius of Norwich, was rendered far worse by the heavy north westerly gale which accompanied it.By the end of the day of August 26th 1912 the city was almost isolated from the rest of the country. No mails could arrive, no main line trains could get out of the stations and the midday mails could not depart.Saved One Hundred Lives - One newspaper man during a visit to Westwick Street, Heigham Street, Orchard Street and other places, where the damage by the great flood considerably exceeded that inflicted probably on any other part of the city, chanced upon a boatman who has performed a prodigious work of rescue. Engaged with him in his duty for many hours was a gallant police officer, Constable Horner, they described some thrilling experiences, during which their lives were carried literally in their hands. In fact, so great was their peril at one time, when their boat capsized, and they were plunged into the seething waters up to their eyes, that the police office, managed to swim and clamber over a wall in to a place of safety, immediately went off to the police station and reported boatman Marrison was downed. To his gratification half an hour afterwards Marrison also came to the police station to actually report that the police constable had been drowned, that is exactly what both thought had happened.William John Marrison, the boatman, is a humble labourer, living in Fox and Goose Yard, off St. Martin's Lane. Throughout the whole day of Tuesday, from eleven o'clock in the morning until eleven o'clock at night he was never out of the boat at all, and during that time saved saved no fewer than 100 souls, " All for glory" asked the representative of the boatman, one of the most modest individuals he has ever had the chance to meet " I suppose so" was the answer " what else could I do when I thought that with my boat I could do some service for my fellow sufferers?"It rained commencing at 4am on the 26th August 1912, by 9am there had fallen 1.03ins,; at 5.40pm 6.50 ins;and by 9am the next morning to the extraordinary total of 7.34 ins, At Norwich Cemetery 7./51 ins, and at Ipswich Road 7.36 ins were recorded in this period, the total rainfall for the month was 11.27 ins