MR. PRESTON’S NOTES ON THE NORFOLK FLOOD. 555 
fortnight in each case in conjunction with the actual flood-rain, 
we have the following results : — 1878, 5‘74 ins. ; 1912, 9‘69 ins. 
It would seem that the attendant winds in 1878 were, as in 
1912, from the north-west, so doubtless had a similar effect in 
retarding the flow of the water to the sea. The rain accom- 
panying the 1912 flood was of a very persistent, penetrating 
character, and much driven about by the wind, and was not of 
the steady thunder-rain type ; in fact, no electrical disturbance 
was observed at any time throughout the continuance of the 
rain. It reminded one more of the snow-blizzard of the 18th 
January, 1881. It is a matter for congratulation, however, that 
the occurrence did not take place in mid-winter, and was not in 
the form of snow, as the depth of snow would have been equal 
to more than six feet on the level ; and how many houses 
would have withstood the weight of six feet of solid snow on 
their roofs ? Yet the measurement of rain which fell shows 
us that such a contingency could be possible ! 
To give any detailed account of the devastating damage 
wrought by this unprecedented downpour, or of the noble efforts 
made to assist the great number of persons rendered homeless 
by the flood, and of the splendid response made both by County 
and City to the appeals for pecuniary assistance, would fill a 
whole number of these Transactions, and would be beyond the 
scope of these notes, which are merely intended to place upon 
record the general meteorological conditions prevalent at the 
time, and the amounts of rain registered in various parts of the 
County. Although (I am informed by the County Surveyor) 
that no less than 103 bridges and culverts in the County of 
Norfolk were destroyed or seriously damaged by the water, and 
although the flooding was so severe that the electric light 
service in Norwich was suspended for three days and the tram 
service for two days, it is gratifying to know that only three 
lives were lost — a remarkably small number when compared 
with the deaths one occasionally reads of in floods in other 
places. The public health also suffered but little, and the 
alarmist statements which appeared in some of the London 
newspapers of fever following the flood were pure inventions. 
