Stamp issue: Gough Island Meteorological Station Part 1 |
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| Stamps celebrating the establishment of the Gough Island Meteorological Station, one of the world's most important long-term meteorological stations. 27-Jul-2026 |
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7th July 2026 Storm Recovery Update Two Weeks On
Report and photos from Administrator Philip Kendall on the 21st July 2026
Two weeks on from the hurricane force winds that wreaked destruction on Tristan, things are slowly getting back to some semblance of normality. At the Residency we have managed to dry out the reception rooms and have shampooed the carpet. The wooden shutters on the lounge windows have been replaced by Perspex to allow light back into the house. An order has been placed for replacement coffee tables, a new TV stand, windows and doors, which will all hopefully be delivered in time for the arrival of the Agulhas II in September. The longboats are yet to be removed from the front of the house, and the garden walls will have to be rebuilt. We have yet to decide whether to replace the greenhouse which is lying in a heap in the corner of the vegetable patch.
The Residency's benches may have been put back, but the longboat and its debris still remain,
as do the scars in the lawn, caused by the flying debris.
The new (temporary) view from the Residency lounge.
The longboat Britannia still lies astride the partially demolished Residency garden wall.
The Admin's destroyed greenhouse.
Elsewhere, the Albatross Bar opened for business last Friday, just 10 days after the storm. There too we have Perspex until the replacement windows arrive. We have plans to re-roof the Biosecurity Building and rebuild the Communications Department offices. The family whose home was destroyed have cleared the site and are planning to rebuild.
What remains of the Biosecurity office - The unopened bottle of beer evidently survived on Trevor's desk!
Removing the destroyed Communications Department office huts.
As time has gone by over the last couple of weeks, more damage has come to light. The Thatched Cottage had damage to its door and roof, but this has now been repaired.
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| Damage to the east end of the Post Office and Tourism Centre. |
Repairing the roof of an island family's home. Photo: Kelly Green |
| The radio repeater at Burntwood was also seriously damaged, meaning that we have limited radio communications to the west and south of the island, including on Nightingale. Encouragingly, a team visiting Nightingale Island found no damage there. |  |
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| Chief Islander Ian Lavarello watches Nicky Swain secure a spare Starlink antenna as a temporary replacement for the BFBS receiver. | Damaged radio repeater at Burntwood. Photo: Nicky Swain |
It is clear that this is going to be a long recovery, but we will get there. The FCDO, RSPB and Blue Belt have all offered assistance and we have received generous private donations too, which will all help us to rebuild better and stronger.
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| Just over half of the Adminstrator's flag remains. | Diplomatic bags drying out at the Government Building. |
Stephen Doughty MP, the Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories sent the following letter of support to the island community on the 13th July.
Aftermath of the 7th July 2026 Storm
Report and photos from Administrator Philip Kendall
It was a relief that Tuesday and Wednesday's storm did not knock out Tristan's communications, and we have received the following report and photographs from Philip Kendall. The worst damage appears to have been confined mainly to the business part of the settlement, and thankfully there have been no casualties. However, Philip and his wife Louise were personally affected, as they had to evacuate the Residency after the 124mph (200km/h) gust recorded at 19:43 tore off part of the roof.
The scene in the Residency garden at daybreak, strewn with longboat debris. The longboat had been blown from the side of the road to the left in this picture, where they are all normally kept tied down.
Here are Philip's own words:
"Last night was the worst night of my life. The concerns for my own safety were by compounded by my concerns for Louise and of course overshadowed by my thoughts of the islanders. Louise and my departure from the Residency could not have been better timed, as within minutes, the front of the house was side swiped by a flying longboat which showered the lounge with glass where we had been sitting just moments earlier."
Another longboat straddles the Residency garden wall, but the Administrator's flag continues to defy the elements.
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| The Residency's front door and living room windows were broken by the flying longboat. The longboat was itself badly cracked with bits torn off. |
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| The main Residency living room, drenched and scattered with broken window glass. | |
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| The smashed Residency door from the inside, and later temporary repairs. | |
"Our experience was nothing compared to the devastation caused to one family, who I will not name to protect their privacy at this time, who were in their house as it was destroyed around them. They were remarkably unharmed physically, but the mental scars will remain for a long time, I am sure. The debris from their house broke through the windows of the Albatross Bar allowing the hurricane force winds to wreak havoc inside."
Flying debris from one of the houses broke windows at the Albatross Bar and chaos (below) in the interior.
The broken windows have been temporarily boarded over.
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"Today the island spirit came out in force, and we have been patching up buildings where possible, including the Residency, the Albatross bar and some storage sheds. Unfortunately, some buildings are unsalvageable, including the BioSecurity building, and a couple of the Communications offices. The BFBS receiver was also destroyed, so we have no TV, but the Starlink Antenna amazingly survived!"
The relatively new Bioesecurity Facility lost its roof, and its interior (below) was totally devastated.
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Some of the Other Damaged Buildings and Repair Work
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| One of the PWD sheds lost a door and suffered damage to the roof. | |
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| Damage to a family storage hut. | Damage to the RIB boathouse. |
Boarded up windows at the Residency.
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| Alongside previous repairs, the Residency roof is gradually acquiring a 'coat of many colours'. | |
Initial repair work has concentrated on making buildings watertight and a certain amount of salvage. It will take many months to fully tidy up the settlement, make good all the damage and/or procure replacements.
Damaging Storm hits Tristan, 7th July 2026 |
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| Tristan was hit with damaging hurricane-force winds on the 7th July 2026, expected to continue overnight. 7-Jul-2026 |
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Snow lying exceptionally low on Tristan cliffs |
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| Snowfall visible above village may be the lowest recorded. 3-Sep-2025 |
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First Update on the February 2024 Flooding |
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| Update the weekend following flooding on the 2nd February 2024. 6-Feb-2024 |
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New Flash Floods and Landslides on Tristan |
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| Heavy rain and landslides on the 2nd February 2024 caused flooding in many homes and blocked the road to the Patches. 3-Feb-2024 |
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Stamp issue: 60th Anniversary of Tristan's 1961 Volcano, Part 3 |
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| Stamps commemorating the 60th anniversary of the resettlement of Tristan's population after the evacuation caused by the 1961 volcanic eruption. 6-Dec-2023 |
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- Tristan da Cunha Annual Gathering 2023 (7-Jun-2023) >>
- Stamp issue: 60th Anniversary of Tristan's 1961 Volcano, Part 2 (2-Mar-2022) >>
- 'Nothing Can Stop Us' Book Launch (16-Dec-2021) >>
- Stamp issue: 60th Anniversary of Tristan's 1961 Volcano, Part 1 (27-Oct-2021) >>
- Remembering the 1961 Volcano (18-May-2021) >>
- Heavy Rainstorm, 30th April 2021 (30-Apr-2021) >>