1953 Flood: A Story From Harwich, Essex, England

The devastating 1953 storm moved southwards down the English coast on the night of 31st January, unable to fight the flowing mass, towns and villages were flooded.
Weak defences battled against a force greater than anyone realised, high sea levels and raging winds broke through all natural barriers and crushed man-made attempts at keeping the waters at bay. Towns were destroyed, 307 people lost their lives and over 32, 000 were evacuated from their homes. Normal daily living was abruptly halted along the eastern side of England, death, survival and recovery took over.

This story is centred on the Main Road of the Port of Harwich in Essex, England, here 8 people lost their lives and 3,000 were made homeless.
Christine Doris Smy (nee Eagle/ Calver) lived in a three story town house that lined the main road; this is her story of that dreadful night.

The unusual sloshing sound as the local fire engine raced past alerted me to the fact that something wasn’t quite right, it was 10pm on the night of January 31st 1953, it was blowing a gale outside, I thought of my husband Jack who was working a night shift for Trinity House further down on the quay, nearer the stormy North sea. I had three small sons who were sleeping in their attic bedroom and my sick mother-in-law was resting in her room below mine, as I thought any water that would seep in would be minimal, I felt all were best left sleeping. I settled into bed but then thought I should take some precaution against water damage, in case the drains rose again, they had seeped into the lower basement and the family room in the past, no serious damage had been done but this time I would move my upholstered furniture onto the kitchen and dining tables, the boys Sunday best was also airing in the lower rooms, I would clear the floor as best as I could.

Slipping quietly down one flight of stairs and past my mother-in-laws’ room, and then down another set of stairs, I realised with horror that I was standing ankle deep in freezing cold water.

Collecting my thoughts I set about clearing items from the floor to the table, after a while I realised that the effort I was putting in was futile, the water was rising, I gathered important papers, a couple of precious knick-knacks, the boys Sunday clothing and paddled my way back upstairs. Crossing the landing to my mother-in-laws room I made the decision to move us all up to the top attic room, my mother-in-law needed assistance and the time was ticking by. When we opened her bedroom door to go back out onto the landing the shock set in, another room door was open and the mattress off of the bed was floating around freely, the water was rising fast, turning to move my mother-in-law a little faster I was faced with the tin pot from under her bed bobbing out of the room, the water was freezing, we were waist high now.