The Great Storm of 1987: what happened 26 years ago Every road in Hampshire was closed, the London Fire Brigade answered 6,000 calls and an estimated £2 billion of damage was caused. The then Home Secretary Douglas Hurd called it the "worst, most widespread night of disaster" since the Blitz. The storm made landfall in Cornwall but the strongest gusts were recorded along the south-eastern edge of it, devastating Sussex, Suffolk and Kent, Six of the seven oak trees after which the town of Sevenoaks is named were blown down. Overall 15 million trees were felled by the storm, with 70 per cent being on private gardens and estates. A huge number of historic trees were blown down in Kew Gardens, Wakehurst Place and Hyde Park among many other places. Those fallen trees and other wreckage blocked roads and railways across the country as well as damaging buildings. A cross Channel ferry, the MV Hengist, was driven ashore near Folkestone and a number of ships capsized. London itself was blacked out for six hours and hundreds of thousands of people were left without power. In many cases power was not restored for several weeks. In total the death toll in Britain was 18 with four people losing their lives in France. Three people were killed as their chimneys toppled, others died on the roads and when trees fell. A fisherman was killed in Hastings when he was hit by a beach hut while two men in Dover died when their ship sank. In France both Brittany and Normandy were affected by the storm and 1.79 million homes were left without electricity supply and water. The Met Office were heavily criticised for failing to predict the storm and a public inquiry was set up shortly after it had passed. In the wake of the storm the National Severe Weather Warning Service was created which informs the public about severe weather which may put lives at risk. Michael Fish has since said that he "wasn't to blame" for dismissing worries that a hurricane was brewing.