The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-08-21 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.-SERIOUS FLOODS

On Monday last, this town was visited by one of the most
severe ►storms of rain and wind that we recollect to have
occurred in the summer season. During Sunday, the baro-
meter, which had previously been steadily rising, suddenly
fell about eight-tenths of an inch ; and during the night there
was a very copious tall of rain, but unaccompanied by any
considerable violence of wind. About noon on Monday,
however, a very heavy gale began to blow from the westward.
accompanied by showers of rain and hail ; and, from about
four o'clock in the afternoon, the rain was heavy and inces-
sant, and the wind rose almost to a hurricane, which con-
tinued all the night, and which we fear must have done most

extensive mischier to the crops of corn throughout the dis-
trict to which its ravages extended. We have heard that
nearly the whole of the corn between this town and Altrincham
is beaten down by the force of the wind, and generally lies as
flat as if a roller had been passed over it.
The damage resulting from the wind and rain is not, how-
ever, the only mischief to be regretted. The rivers Mersey
and Irwell were swelled by the rain to a height which has
not, we believe, been reached by any summer flood since 1799,
which is still remembered by many Cheshire farmers, and
which, it is worth while to remark, also occurred on the 17th
of August. The flood on this occasion, indeed, did not reach
its greatest height until about half-past six o'clock yesterday
morning, when the whole of the low grounds in Broughton
were flooded, and Great Clowes-street, and the newly paved
portion of Broughton-lane, were flooded to some depth, as
well as many of the houses on the low ground in Salford,
near Broughton Bridge.
In that part of Cheshire which adjoins the river Mersey,
the whole of the low ground was under water yesterday morn-
ing; and we fear that many hundred acres of corn, turnips,
and potatoes, will have received irretrievable injury ; and
much mischief in other ways, of which we have not yet had
time to hear, will have been done in various quarters.
We regret to add, that this flood has been attended by a
very melancholy loss of life near Bury, the details of which
we have heard imperfectly; but we believe the following par-
ticulars will be found tolerably correct. A carter in the em-
ploy of Mr. Thomas Oram, fulling-miller, of Tottington-
lower-End, near Bury, was returning on Monday evening
from Rochdale with his cart; and, on arriving at a point
where the road between Bury and Mr. Oram's mill crosses
(by a ford) the holcome Brook, a very short distance from
its junction with the river Irwell, he found that the brook
was greatly swelled by the rain, and was advised by some per-
son who saw him, not to attempt to cross it. He. however,
refused to listen to this advice, and not only got into the cart
himself, but took with him a woman and a child, who were
desirous of crossing the brook. He then drove his horse
into the water; but, before he reached the middle, the force
of the current overpowered the horse, and compelled it to
swerve from the proper course ; the cart was overturned, and
the whole party were precipitated into the raging torrent,
which swept them immediately into the Irwell, and they
were all three drowned. We have been informed, that two
of the bodies, namely, those of the child and the man, were
washed ashore yesterday several miles below the point where
the fatal accident occurred ; but that of the woman has not
yet been heard of.

From the violence of the wind on Monday night, we were
prepared to hear of extensive mischief at " sea ; but we are
glad to learn from the Liverpool shipping letters of yester-
day, that the only loss known at that port up to four o'clock
was that of a Russian vessel, the Minerva, from Memel to
Fleetwood, which was driven on shore near Southport, and
would be a total wreck. The crew, however, were saved.

It may not be uninteresting to our readers to be reminded,
that Monday, the day on which this storm prevailed, was
not only the anniversary of the disastrous flood of 1799, but
also of the loss of the Rothsay Castle, which was wrecked
on the 17th of August, 1831. The day, therefore, seems to
be peculiarly marked by a recurrence of wet and boisterous
weather.

Since the above was written, we have received a commu-
nication from Bolton, to the effect that Wilcock:lan's coach
from Preston had not arrived in that town at two o'clock,
which, we believe, is some hours after its usual time ; and it
was reported that the bridge at Walton, near Preston, was
washed down. We think it much more probable, that the
road on the low ground upon the bank of the Ribble, at
Walton, had been so deeply flooded as to prevent the passage
of the coach. It does not appear, that any serious damage
had been done by the flood in the neighbourhood of Bolton.
—Manchester Guardian.

(Prom the Blackburn Standard.)

The fine weather, on which we took occasion to congratu-
late our readers last week, disappeared about the time our
publication issued from the press, and for several days we
had a continuance of cold showers, which increased in inten-
sity until Monday last. This was a thoroughly wet day, and
in the afternoon and evening torrents of rain fell, and a per-
fect deluge of waters, accompanied by a strong westerly wind,
kept pouring down till long past midnight. The consequence
was that the waters in the neighbourhood rose to an extra-
ordinary height. In many parts of this town the streets were
flooded, and the lower parts of the houses filled with the
overflowings of the brooks.

In the Ribble the body of water which rolled down was
perfectly immense ; indeed, so large a flood is not within the
memory of man, and the damage which has been done is
proportionately great. We have heard of cattle and large
trees in considerable numbers being washed down the stream,
and of the destruction of crops on the river's banks ; hut as
we have not been able to ascertain the details of such mis-
haps, we decline alluding to them more fully.
The greatest injury, however, which has been done, is the
partial carrying away of Brockholes Bridge, on the Black-
burn and Preston new turnpike road. The reader is aware
that this is a wooden structure, and that fears have often been
felt that the calamity which we now have to record would oc-
cur. It seems that the event took place about three o'clock
yesterday morning, at which time the river was at its highest
point : it rose upwards of a foot above the path over the
bridge, and the long level on this side was covered for nearly
half a mile. Three of the arches on the side next to this town
are quite carried away, and it is understood that the immedi-
ate cause of the accident was the lodgment of three large trees
against the bridge, which were at length forced underneath
one of the arches by the immense body of water pressing upon
them. A man who was fishing with nets was on the bridge
just before the accident, and it is said he had a very narrow
escape : he describes the catastrophe as presenting a very sin-
gular appearance,•the upper part of the structure having been
forced upwards into the segment of a circle before the actual
crash took place. The whole of the wood-work was of course
carried loff by the current :' some of it has made a voyage to
the sea, but there are several pieces of timber scattered about
in'the ditches," which had been entangled in the fences on the
retiring of the flood. Three of the bays have made their way
to Cuerdale-hall, and we understand have been floated into
the farm-yard there, having passed through several gate. ways
in their course. Such of our readers as know the situation
of the building may form a pretty correct notion from this
fact of the extraordinary height of the flood.
Of course travelling between this town and Preston by the
new road is suspended for a time, but we understand that ar-
rangements are in progress for the temporary reparation of
the accident. A meeting of the trustees of the road was held
last night, and from the conversation which took place thereat
it is probable that the erection of a stone bridge will not be
long postponed.