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Location: Blogs Simon and Melody's Blog |
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| Posted by: supersi |
Friday, January 19, 2007 |
The wind storms lashing the UK for the past two days have caused £1B damage to the capital alone. That’s a big mop-up job. Winds topped 80mph in London and 100mph on the coast. A colleague told of people literally getting blown off their feet walking across London Bridge (contrary to the nursery rhyme, it was the people falling down, not the bridge). As fallen trees blocked the tracks, trains were shut down and delayed across the country and it was a chaotic scene trying to get home last night.
At the height of rush hour, there were 66 overturned vehicles, and on one stretch of motorway, a gust of wind blew three lorries straight over and backed up traffic for hours. Hundreds of properties have been severely damaged, almost 200 flights cancelled, while King’s Cross and London Bridge stations had parts of their roofs blown off. Lord’s cricket ground was also damaged, and the five people who understand the game are sure to be disappointed.
The worst, however, was saved for Frosty. Frosty, of course, is the giant snowman that for weeks has lit up the West India Quay boardwalk by our flat. From before Christmas until, well, last night, Frosty shone. He posed for tourist cameras, he beamed at the ‘Wharf office workers, he smiled down at children gathering at his feet. See a picture of Frosty in happier times. Frosty survived sunshine, he survived +10C winter weather (definitely not a Canadian snowman), he survived rain… but at 80mph winds, our 30 foot friend finally met his match.
Imagine my horror, when I finally made it home late last night, only to be confronted with the sight of Frosty lying on his back, his poor head snapped back and hanging over the edge of the quay. It was a grizzly sight. A small crowd had gathered to pay their respects and take some photos. Frosty’s corpse was still not moved by the next morning, perhaps due to police investigation. Such photos may seem gruesome by Canadian standards, but in sensational-crazed British media they are the norm. We do apologize for any who are disturbed (including Frosty).
In other news, now that “killer Kyrill” has passed, apparently we’re in for “the Big Freeze”. Guess that means the temps should drop to at *least* -3C next week. Brrrr. |
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Re: The Demise of Frosty |
By Lloyd Parlee on
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 |
| Oh the humanity!, can't they put a sheet over poor Frosty. |
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Re: The Demise of Frosty |
By supersi on
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 |
| I saw them finally "dismantling" him on the way to work this morning. Guess the autopsy took longer than expected... :P |
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