Flowed: Island family lost to a storm in 20 years

On the night of 11 January 2005, a family of five tried to escape a violent storm by beating their house on South Ut Island.

The winds up to 124mph coincided with a high tide, and a growing sea was threatening to overwhelm McFerson’s house.

The circumstances were so serious that the wind and waves threw sand and rocks against the outside walls.

Archie and Murdina McFerson, her children Andrew, Seven, and Hannah, and Murdina’s father Calum Campbell set in two cars.

He expected Archie’s parents to reach the security of the parents, just at a distance of a mile, but they never made it; His cars were swept away.

Archie and Murdina grew up in Hebrids before going to the mainland for jobs.

Archie served as a joiner in Glasgow and Murdina was a personal assistant to the head of Gelik in BBC Scotland.

He returned home to the islands to raise his young family.

Archie acted as a self-employed builder and Murdina was a secretary in a local school.

Some of the family’s closest people have publicly spoken publicly about the tragedy in a new BBC Alba Documentary, ERPA: After the Storm.

Murdina’s close friend CIRSTY MACINNES said: “It’s 20 years, but I still have difficult to see her house when I have to drive it in the previous drive.

“The house is still, but they are not.”

The South Eutter is a home of about 1,800 people and is one of the southern islands in length of 160 miles (257 km) of the western islands, a series of islands of West Coast, Scotland’s West Coast.

There is nothing but the open sea to the west of the Hebridian Islands to North America.

Islanders have long been accustomed to wild winter season.

But the sudden and seriousness of the 11 January storm shook many of them.

The storm began as a low depression hundreds of miles from the eastern coast of America.

By the time it reached the western islands, it had increased in intensity.

Atmospheric pressure alone increased the sea level by about 70 cm (27in).

Bad weather coincides with a high spring tide, further increases the height of water.

Western islands received strong winds and heavy rain rains.

The waves beat the sand dunes on the lower island of South UIST.

The reason, which is carrying the streets in small sections of the sea between the islands contributed to increasing the flood levels because the storm wandered.

Power went out in the islands and lost the reception of the mobile phone.

Archie’s father David McFerson was working with a change in a defense missile range at South Eust, which was unaware of the tragedy coming near his house.

He remembered how the lights came out in his building at 15:00 pm.

An emergency generator kicked, but it went out of the fuel at 20:00.

He said: “There was a light on the emergency exhaust that lasted till midnight, but also went out.

“I was in the dark. I will never forget it, how terrible it was.

“And no idea what was happening a few miles below the road.

“A terrible night.”

Murdina’s brother Neil Campbell planned to meet his sister and her family that evening.

He said: “I was away for Christmas and we were going to have dinner together.

“We were presented to give each other to each other.”

But on his drive from Benbekula’s neighboring island, he was stopped from the storm and forced to turn back.

“Hawa hit the car and the seawater started passing by me,” he said.

“I just froze.”

Neil said that his sister’s house was on the edge of an area of ​​the coastal meadow named Machair next to the sea.

He said: “The growth of the storm surrounded him.

“Sand and rocks were thrown against the wall of the house.

“They must have been nervous.

“I think they just ran away.”

Family cars are believed to have been caught in the growth of the storm, which broke the beach and caused widespread floods.

The vehicles were later swept away in an inland elasticity.

The bodies of Archie, 36, Murdina, 37, and Calum, 67, 67, were found before children in the following days.

Neil said: “You are waiting all day for something, and then they tell you that they have found them.

“This is a relief in a way. But at the same time, they are telling you that you have lost everyone.

“This is why it is difficult to deal with it. You never deal with it.”

CIRSTY remembered anger and sorrow in view of the storm.

He said: “At that time the priest said that he went to God together.

“I was very angry, I said that they were not. I said that God will do such a terrible thing for such good people?

“For children who were so cute and innocent?”

He said that Murdina was a great friend for her and was funny, generous and strong.

The condolences traveled from the islands to attend the funeral at St. Mary’s Church at Griminish at Benbekula.

The five coffins were placed in a row before the congregation – adults relaxed three brown coffins and children in magnificent white coffins.

Each of his names was placed in the altar’s leg.

Three priests attended Archie’s uncle, Reverend John Smith for service.

He told the packed church that life was better due to the survival of the family.

Prayers, readings, hymns and compromises were playing.

Widhur and former joiner Calum were a piping instructor in local schools and a piper was played as the coffins were taken from the church.

Mairi Macinnes was head of Lochdar School, where Andrew and Hannah were students at that time, and where Murdina was a secretary.

He told the documentary how Murdina spoke of the upcoming storm, but it would be brought without any fear or expectation of destruction.

Mary said: “I remember well, afternoon when the news came in the afternoon that there was really bad weather coming.

“I can still see Murdina saying that the school will be closed, that there was a storm on the way.”