Power Lines down in Gillingham, after the great storm of 1987

In total 22 people died because of the Great Storm. Eighteen people died in England and four people were killed in France.

Four deaths were in Kent.

Richard Ashlin, a 38-year-old father-of-three from Staplehurst, died when he fell 15ft while climbing down from his roof while trying to repair a dislodged tile. He was a former head of geography at Maplesden Noakes School, Maidstone.

The ripped-up roofs of the maisonettes in Northumberland Court, after the storms of 1987

Tree surgeon Bob Homewood, 59, from Biddenden, was crushed to death when chimneys collapsed and buried him in his home.

Sosamma “Susie” Shilling, 55, from Walderslade died when a tree crashed through her roof and British Rail worker Tony Telfer from Gravesend, died when a tree plunged down an embankment.

At a glance

Sevenoaks: Six out of the seven trees at The Vine cricket ground, said to have given the town its name, came down. Later seven new ones were planted.

Strood: The roof of a block of flats blew right off. Photos emerged of people standing in the remains of their living rooms and bedrooms.

Rochester: High winds make the Medway bridge on the M2 dangerous, and several lorries overturned.

Dover: Passenger ferry The Hengist washed slipped its moorings and beached ashore. Two crew members of the 1,500-tonne cargo vessel Sumnia died when she lost power and struck the southern breakwater just outside of the harbour.

Chartwell: Thousands of trees at Sir Winston Churchill’s former home were uprooted. Owned by the National Trust, the organisation’s land at Emmetts Garden and Toys Hill, in Kent, was also badly damaged. The trust’s Storm Disaster Appeal raised more than £3million in six weeks after the storm.

Sandwich: TV footage showed the roof at a new building on the Pfizer complex lift off and then settle back down in the same place.