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It has been 20 years since a family of five lost their lives to a violent storm whilst attempting to flee their home on the island of South Uist. Archie and Murdina MacPherson, with their children Andrew, seven, and Hannah, five, as well as Murdina’s father Calum Campbell, set off in two cars in the hope of reaching the safety of Archie’s parents’ home just over a mile away. However, their cars were swept away. Their vehicles were later discovered to have been washed into an inland loch. Winds of 124mph and surging seas had threatened to overwhelm their house, with waves hurling sand and rocks against the outside walls.
Archie and Murdina had grown up in the Hebrides before moving away to the mainland for work. They had returned home to the isles to raise their young family. Archie worked as a self-employed builder and Murdina was secretary at a local school. South Uist is home to about 1,800 people and one of the southern isles in the Western Isles, a chain of islands off Scotland’s west coast. Islanders are long accustomed to wild winter weather.
Some of those closest to the family have recently spoken publicly about the tragedy in a new BBC Alba documentary, Eòrpa: After the Storm. Mourners travelled from across the isles to attend the funeral, with five coffins laid in a row at St Mary’s Church in Griminish. There were prayers, readings, hymns, and accordion playing. The Reverend John Smith, Archie’s uncle, told the packed church that life had been better because of the family’s existence.
The suddenness and severity of the storm shocked many in the area, which had been hit by strong winds and heavy, driving rain. Power went out across the islands, and mobile phone reception was lost. Archie’s father David MacPherson was working a shift at a Ministry of Defence missile range in West Gerinish, South Uist, unaware of the tragedy unfolding near his home. He recalled how the lights went out in his building at 3 pm. An emergency generator kicked in but it ran out of fuel at 8 pm.
Murdina’s brother Neil Campbell had planned to meet his sister and her family that evening. However, he was stopped by the storm during his drive from the neighbouring island of Benbecula and was forced to turn back. Murdina’s close friend Cirsty Macinnes said, “It’s been 20 years, but I still find it hard to look at her house when I have to drive past it. The house is still there, but they’re not.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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