Tristan da Cunha Storm News

7th July 2026 Storm Recovery Update Two Weeks On

Report and photos from Administrator Philip Kendall on the 21st July 2027

Two weeks on from the hurricane force winds that wreaked destruction on Tristan, things are slowly getting back to some semblance of normality. At the Residency we have managed to dry out the reception rooms and have shampooed the carpet. The wooden shutters on the lounge windows have been replaced by Perspex to allow light back into the house. An order has been placed for replacement coffee tables, a new TV stand, windows and doors, which will all hopefully be delivered in time for the arrival of the Agulhas II in September. The longboats are yet to be removed from the front of the house, and the garden walls will have to be rebuilt. We have yet to decide whether to replace the greenhouse which is lying in a heap in the corner of the vegetable patch.

The Residency's benches may have been put back, but the longboat and its debris still remain,
as do the scars in the lawn, caused by the flying debris.

The new (temporary) view from the Residency lounge.

The longboat Britannia still lies astride the partially demolished Residency garden wall.

The Admin's destroyed greenhouse.

Elsewhere, the Albatross Bar opened for business last Friday, just 10 days after the storm. There too we have Perspex until the replacement windows arrive. We have plans to re-roof the Biosecurity Building and rebuild the Communications Department offices. The family whose home was destroyed have cleared the site and are planning to rebuild.

What remains of the Biosecurity office - The unopened bottle of beer evidently survived on Trevor's desk!

Removing the destroyed Communications Department office huts.

As time has gone by over the last couple of weeks, more damage has come to light. The Thatched Cottage had damage to its door and roof, but this has now been repaired.

Damage to the east end of the Post Office and Tourism Centre.	Repairing the roof of an island family's home. Photo: Kelly Green

The radio repeater at Burntwood was also seriously damaged, meaning that we have limited radio communications to the west and south of the island, including on Nightingale. Encouragingly, a team visiting Nightingale Island found no damage there.
Chief Islander Ian Lavarello watches Nicky Swain secure a spare Starlink antenna as a temporary replacement for the BFBS receiver.	Damaged radio repeater at Burntwood. Photo: Nicky Swain

It is clear that this is going to be a long recovery, but we will get there. The FCDO, RSPB and Blue Belt have all offered assistance and we have received generous private donations too, which will all help us to rebuild better and stronger.

Just over half of the Adminstrator's flag remains.	Diplomatic bags drying out at the Government Building.

Stephen Doughty MP, the Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories sent the following letter of support to the island community on the 13th July.

Aftermath of the 7th July 2026 Storm

Report and photos from Administrator Philip Kendall

It was a relief that Tuesday and Wednesday's storm did not knock out Tristan's communications, and we have received the following report and photographs from Philip Kendall. The worst damage appears to have been confined mainly to the business part of the settlement, and thankfully there have been no casualties. However, Philip and his wife Louise were personally affected, as they had to evacuate the Residency after the 124mph (200km/h) gust recorded at 19:43 tore off part of the roof.

The scene in the Residency garden at daybreak, strewn with longboat debris. The longboat had been blown from the side of the road to the left in this picture, where they are all normally kept tied down.

Here are Philip's own words:

"Last night was the worst night of my life. The concerns for my own safety were by compounded by my concerns for Louise and of course overshadowed by my thoughts of the islanders. Louise and my departure from the Residency could not have been better timed, as within minutes, the front of the house was side swiped by a flying longboat which showered the lounge with glass where we had been sitting just moments earlier."

Another longboat straddles the Residency garden wall, but the Administrator's flag continues to defy the elements.

The Residency's front door and living room windows were broken by the flying longboat. The longboat was itself badly cracked with bits torn off.
The main Residency living room, drenched and scattered with broken window glass.

The smashed Residency door from the inside, and later temporary repairs.

"Our experience was nothing compared to the devastation caused to one family, who I will not name to protect their privacy at this time, who were in their house as it was destroyed around them. They were remarkably unharmed physically, but the mental scars will remain for a long time, I am sure. The debris from their house broke through the windows of the Albatross Bar allowing the hurricane force winds to wreak havoc inside."

Flying debris from one of the houses broke windows at the Albatross Bar and chaos (below) in the interior.
The broken windows have been temporarily boarded over.

"Today the island spirit came out in force, and we have been patching up buildings where possible, including the Residency, the Albatross bar and some storage sheds. Unfortunately, some buildings are unsalvageable, including the BioSecurity building, and a couple of the Communications offices. The BFBS receiver was also destroyed, so we have no TV, but the Starlink Antenna amazingly survived!"

The relatively new Bioesecurity Facility lost its roof, and its interior (below) was totally devastated.

Some of the Other Damaged Buildings and Repair Work

One of the PWD sheds lost a door and suffered damage to the roof.

Damage to a family storage hut.	Damage to the RIB boathouse.

Boarded up windows at the Residency.

Alongside previous repairs, the Residency roof is gradually acquiring a 'coat of many colours'.

Initial repair work has concentrated on making buildings watertight and a certain amount of salvage. It will take many months to fully tidy up the settlement, make good all the damage and/or procure replacements.

Damaging Storm hits Tristan, 7th July 2026

Reports from Philip Kendall and Kelly Green. Video & stills from Fouche Conradie

Winter well and truly arrived on Tristan on Tuesday 7th July 2026, with a damaging storm. High winds grew to hurricane force winds during the day, with gusts of over 100mph, and were expected to continue into Wednesday. The Weatherlink website, which displays data from the automatic weather station mounted on St Mary's School, recorded a peak gust of 124mph (200km/h) at 19:43.

This still from a video shot by Fouche Conradie show roofing sheets being ripped off by the storm.

Among the damage caused, several buildings have lost their roofs, and the Administrator has issued instructions for everyone to shelter in place until the storm has passed.

Communications with island remained good at least until mid afternoon, enabling the Admin to send us notification, and for Kelly Green to post the video below on TikTok, which was shot by Ovenstone engineer Fouche Conradie. The current state of communications is not known, although the weather station is still sending data.

	@tristandacunhakg♬ original sound - Kelly Green
Stills grabbed from Fouche Condrie's video (right), show roofing debris flying through the air (above) and a building stripped of cladding by the wind (below). Big Point is just visible in the background.

Tristan's location in the middle of the South Atlantic means that the island is no stranger to damaging storms. The last such storms, for instance, happened in July and November 2019.

We will post further reports as and when they come in. We all earnestly hope and pray that everyone stays safe and that the damage is manageable.

First Update on the February 2024 Flooding
Update the weekend following flooding on the 2nd February 2024. 6-Feb-2024
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New Flash Floods and Landslides on Tristan
Heavy rain and landslides on the 2nd February 2024 caused flooding in many homes and blocked the road to the Patches. 3-Feb-2024
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Heavy Rainstorm, 30th April 2021
Exceptionally heavy rain fed cascades in the cliffs behind village and caused flooding in the island store. 30-Apr-2021
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Progress Report on Storm Damage at St Mary's School, March 2020
Photo report on the state of the school in January 2020, with an update on the situation in March. 19-Mar-2020
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Drone Footage of the Damage Caused by the July 2019 Storm
Aerial footage shows even more clearly than still photographs the extent of the damage caused by the storm. 10-Mar-2020
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Successful re-roofing after November 2019 Storm
'All Hands Day' achieves target as three key buildings repaired 6-Nov-2019
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