[Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Abergavenny Borough.

  • Abergavenny (Wales). Borough Council.
Date:
1960
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Abergavenny Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ANNUAL REPORT I960 Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, Rain and yet more rain !—such was the heraldic cry of the sixties. 1960 was the wettest year in living memory, and to mark its final passage came the floods. In December we experienced the great flood that deluged many parts of Monmouthshire. On Sunday, December 4th, Abergavenny, like many other towns and villages, was virtually cut off. Low-lying houses such as those in Mill Street, were steeped in chocolate-coloured water, fields became lakes, roads were impassable and many cars and lorries were temporarily abandoned. Early the following morning mopping-up operations began and the organised efforts of private individuals and public as well a& voluntary services quickly restored order out of chaos. Many sections of the community were affected in one way or another, but friendliness and good neighbourliness was apparent everywhere. Happily, there was no loss of human life and no disease was attributed to this calamity. Recent experiments in West Germany seem to indicate a steep rise in deaths following a “ muggy ” period immediately preceding a rain belt, and an increase in the number of complaints from nervous headaches and migraine to epileptic attacks and strokes during a “cold front”. It seems that excessive moisture and certain pressure changes have more effect on health than changes in temperature. However, judged by mortality statistics, most of the people in Abergavenny enjoyed very good health throughout 1960 despite the heavy rainfall and the comparative lack of sunshine. But in the absence of accurate morbidity statistics it is difficult to estimate the amount or nature of sickness actually experienced. Let us not be too complacent even about our mortality statistics. It is true that the number of deaths in Abergavenny were fewer than in recent years, but take a closer look at these deaths. Then it becomes obvious that some 10 per cent, of these deaths were due to accidents, all of which were surely preventable. Better roads.