Tidal Surge Causes Flooding in Whitby

Weather Photography in Whitby by Ceri Oakes

What a day. The tidal surge hit Whitby, on the North Yorkshire Coast, at around 4.20pm for the second time in 24 hours and this time the high winds caused serious problems. Even before high tide the waves were crashing up the slip way, taking half-tonne sandbags, wheelie bins and even an ice-cream kiosk along with them. Passers by were knocked off their feet and carried up Pier Road which ended up like a river, and full of debris. New Quay Road also flooded, I hope the local businesses along there, who seemed well prepared with sandbags, were not too badly affected. But we won’t really know the extent of the damage until tomorrow. Luckily the tide is now receding and the clean up can begin. Mountain Rescue and the local Coastguard teams and other agencies were out in force keeping people safe, – people were taking some crazy risks to get a view of Mother Nature at work. I think we’re very lucky no-one was injured today.

And so the clean up begins… Thanks to our two piers standing their ground the harbour was not hit too badly, homes and businesses are ok today, a bit of a clean up then business as usual. They say better warning this time helped them prepare for the worst. Pier Road was still closed to traffic this morning as the council worked hard to clean the streets from all the debris. There was some damage to masonry and railings on the pier. The overwhelming message from locals now is that we need to safeguard the pier. Investment is needed to protect the town in the future and also to keep them at a high standard, as they are no doubt an asset to our town, which relies on tourism.