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On the afternoon of Thursday 17th May it was heard that gale force winds were predicted for Friday evening. Just before midnight on Friday 18th May howling winds and rain awakened the majority of the island. There were gale force winds of 50 knots from the East - East North East. This continued for most of the night until the early hours of the morning, up until midday when the wind changed into the NE - NW at 10-16 knots. Because of all the rain there were lots of waterfalls when normally dry gulches flowed over the mountain cliffs. There was quite a lot of damage due to the wind and rain. The 100ft Jaguar Mast was blown over hitting the corner of the Fisheries Department building. This mast was due to be dismantled but the wind got there first. It was quite a disappointment as the satellite TV was off but thanks to Andy and team had it working by Saturday evening. Unfortunately the strong winds completely destroyed the playground Wendy House and the debris from it then blew away and resulted in damage to Colin Hagan's garage, Piers Hagan's potato shed and Stanley Swain's house roof. The children are very disappointed as this was one of the highlights of the playground which was built thanks to charitable funding. See the Community News Page for details of the children's playground which now needs more funds to replace the damage. Recently a project was started to build an old thatched Tristan cottage that will become a live museum. Progress was going well, with the two gable ends and the back wall erected, however the strong winds blew down the east gable end and now only about a third is left standing. This was devastating news as the pensioners involved had put in lots of hard manual work to get to this stage. Out at the Potato patches many potato sheds and one camping hut roof was damaged. This appears to have been the worst easterly wind since the severe 'Tristan Hurricane' struck on 21st May 2001 - see the separate 2001 Hurricane Page. Thankfully damage was relatively minor on this occasion, but a reminder of the vulnerability of the Tristan Settlement to gale damage. Chief Islander Ian Lavarello reported the village was 'all is back to normal now after the storm last week' on 23rd May. |
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| James Glass's photos taken on Saturday 19th May 2012 show Top & Above Centre - the storm engulfing Calshot Harbour which was cleared of fishing vessels. Left & Right views of the 100ft Jaguar Mast which was blown down and damaged the adjacent Fisheries Department Building. |
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