What Disasters Do You Remember?

[Smudge]

1 minute ago, Swan Lesta said:

I know of a current disasters taking place right now in the ISIS movement across middle eastern nations and movements like Boko Haram yet its like its not even happening. 

 

I feel like an ashamed humanitarian watching all the Brexit news and insular first world politics when kids are in war-torn environments scared out of their tiny minds and elsewhere being kidnapped, raped, abused and killed on a daily basis.

 

Sorry for the rant but its really screwed up and a tad upsetting.

I was thinking the same yesterday and how we become 'comfortably numb'. I think it's a defense mechanism for the helplessness of it all.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

5 hours ago, ScouseFox said:

would put the dog blowing up as one of my most vivid childhood memories. as well as when the Woolpack fell an landed on Trisha's head in that storm on emmerdale. blimey there's been some tough times out there. 

what about the cobbles tram crash rip ashley p

[LcFc_Smiv]

I remember quite a few but most recently the Boston marathon and then not too long after the West Texas fertiliser plant explosion. I was in Waco which is minutes down the road from West, it was the first time I had ever been abroad by myself and it was a little scary following the events of Boston. The day they caught the boston bomber we were sat in a bar after work and when it was announced on the news the whole bar stood up applauding, I hadn't witnessed anything like that before.

[stripeyfox]

Only just saw this thread.

 

I was born in 1973 so growing up in the eighties, there was no shortage of disasters. I have always had a bit of morbid fascination with them 

 

During the period of 1985 - 1989 we were "treated" to a huge number of them. Some that spring to mind are the Heysel Stadium crush and Bradford fire (within 2 weeks of each other). 1985 also saw a large number of plane crashes - Air India bombing of Ireland and Japan Air Lines 123 (which has the largest death toll of a crash involving a single aircraft - 520) and the Manchester Airport fire.

 

The Mexico City earthquake and subsequent miraculous survival of several babies in the maternity ward of a hospital (guess those babies would be in their 30's now!)

 

Herald of Free Enterprise 

 

Kings Cross Fire

 

Hillsborough

 

Clapham Rail Crash

 

Kegworth Air Crash

 

Lockerbie Bombing

 

When you think about it the amount of tragedies in this 4 year period was staggering - and that's just the ones I can remember!
 

 

[separator]

I can still remember the news flash on the BBC about the Kegworth crash on the M1. On a sunday evening as I remember, probably in the middle of an episode of of Last Of The Summer Wine or Lovejoy when the beeb had decent TV shows on.

 

[Karljohn]

Remember being in the Kop at Leicester v Chelsea when the Hillsborough disaster was reported over the PA.

 

9/11 was horrific to watch unfold on TV 

[Karljohn]

On Monday, March 06, 2017 at 15:15, Smudge said:

I was in the center of Birmingham the night of the bombings.

I was in a pub with some work colleagues we had just sat down with full pints and the barman comes over to ask us to look under the seats and table to see if there was anything suspicious. He said bombs had gone off elsewhere in the city

We all got up and left without taking a sup of ale. As we drove through the city we were greeted with the acrid smell of burning and a sea of blue flashing lights across the city center.

My dad was a driver for Sam Smiths brewery and was in Birmingham as the bomb exploded. He was questioned by police who examined every single crate on the truck looking for evidence. He said he had never been so scared in his life.

[stripeyfox]

3 hours ago, stripeyfox said:

Only just saw this thread.

 

I was born in 1973 so growing up in the eighties, there was no shortage of disasters. I have always had a bit of morbid fascination with them 

 

During the period of 1985 - 1989 we were "treated" to a huge number of them. Some that spring to mind are the Heysel Stadium crush and Bradford fire (within 2 weeks of each other). 1985 also saw a large number of plane crashes - Air India bombing of Ireland and Japan Air Lines 123 (which has the largest death toll of a crash involving a single aircraft - 520) and the Manchester Airport fire.

 

The Mexico City earthquake and subsequent miraculous survival of several babies in the maternity ward of a hospital (guess those babies would be in their 30's now!)

 

Herald of Free Enterprise 

 

Kings Cross Fire

 

Hillsborough

 

Clapham Rail Crash

 

Kegworth Air Crash

 

Lockerbie Bombing

 

When you think about it the amount of tragedies in this 4 year period was staggering - and that's just the ones I can remember!
 

 

http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/miracle-baby-rescuer-recall-mexico-earthquake-30-years-on-1218984

 

Not sure if this link works but it describes the fourteen new born babies who were pulled alive from the wreckage of a hospital destroyed in an magnitude 8 earthquake near Mexico City on 19 September 1985. The babies were rescued SEVEN days after the quake having  survived without nourishment, water, warmth or human contact for all that time. 

 

It was big news at the time of course, and there was talk that the quake may prevent Mexico from hosting the World Cup the following year (although that went ahead with no problems)

 

 

When you think about it what an incredible story - those babes spending seven days alone, cold and without food or human contact. I remember, more recently, after the Haiti earthquake there was a story of a two year old rescued alive after more than a week. At the time, my son was about the same age and it broke my heart to think of the child trapped there.  

[stripeyfox]

This was a devastating tragedy just a few days before Christmas in 1988...

[stripeyfox]

Thought some more about this and I think this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penlee_lifeboat_disaster is probably the first tragedy I can recall from my own memory.

 

It occurred on 19 December 1981, when the Penlee Lifeboat (based in the village of Mousehole, Cornwall) went to the aid of the cargo ship Union Star which had suffered engine failure in heavy seas and atrocious weather. The lifeboat crew managed to get alongside the stranded Union Star and commenced a rescue but the huge seas smashed the lifeboat to pieces ultimately with the loss of all eight lifeboatmen and eight persons on the Union Star.

 

If you have a spare hour this video gives an excellent account of that evening from some of the people involved including relatives of the lifeboat crew and a Canadian airman who was based in Cornwall at the time and piloted the helicopter and who witnessed the exceptional bravery of the crew.

 

 

 

[Smudge]

15 hours ago, Karljohn said:

My dad was a driver for Sam Smiths brewery and was in Birmingham as the bomb exploded. He was questioned by police who examined every single crate on the truck looking for evidence. He said he had never been so scared in his life.

I wasn't so much scared as in a sort of disconnected state, it was so unreal. We were on a management training course at Aston University, we had spent the whole week since Sunday, cooped up and it was that night, Thursday, that we were let loose on the town. Thing was that all our wives knew that was the day of the night out so as you can imagine, they were very concerned until we managed to call them. No mobiles in those days.

 

The scary times came later as I remember being quite quite jittery whenever I walked around Birmingham for weeks after that.

[Buce]

Anyone listing Diana's death as a 'disaster' need to have a word with themselves. 

 

It demeans all the genuine disasters mentioned. 

[Bellend Sebastian]

Of course it was a disaster.  It meant we had to put up with even more blathering crap about her than when she was alive

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10 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Of course it was a disaster.  It meant we had to put up with even more blathering crap about her than when she was alive

plus you got Candle In The Wind playing on the radio every 5 minutes.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

The Cannon Street rail disaster, in the late fifties. Bloody awful. One of my school friends lost his brother and sister. That was the first one I recall.

[Gary Eatfood]

6 years ago today since the tsunami on the east coast of Japan.

 

Anyone remember taxi driver Derrick Bird who killed 12 people in Cumbria?

[stripeyfox]

9 hours ago, Gary Eatfood said:

6 years ago today since the tsunami on the east coast of Japan.

 

Anyone remember taxi driver Derrick Bird who killed 12 people in Cumbria?

I remember the tsunami as we were watching it on TV in the evening at The LRI whilst my wife was in labour, my son was born just after midnight (on the 12th). The footage of the water washing away everything in its path was astonishing. 

[Parafox]

7 hours ago, Worthington said:

Same as you re Aberfan. I was 11 when it happened and remember how tearful some of the staff at school were in the days afterwards. As kids, we didn't realise why it was they were so upset....Do now of course! 

I know, the thing that sticks in my mind is the reaction of teachers at school. It was upsetting to watch the news that night, though.

 

As a 10 yr old I remember imagining my life ending at that age and what I might miss if I died. One of those things was never seeing England win the World Cup again. Now, 51 yrs later, I realise I needn't have worried.

[stripeyfox]

12 hours ago, Parafox said:

I know, the thing that sticks in my mind is the reaction of teachers at school. It was upsetting to watch the news that night, though.

 

As a 10 yr old I remember imagining my life ending at that age and what I might miss if I died. One of those things was never seeing England win the World Cup again. Now, 51 yrs later, I realise I needn't have worried.

You can sleep soundly knowing that you could live to be 250 years old and not need to worry about seeing England win the world cup again...