London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Fulham 1927

Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1927

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87
Fulham Civic Week.
During Civic Week, which was celebrated from
February 5th to 12th, 1927, the Public Health Committee
took a stand at the Exhibition in the Fulham
Baths.
The Exhibition provided an opportunity to the
staff to give demonstrations on health subjects, including
dietetics, personal cleanliness, cleanliness in
connection with food, the dangers of insects and infant
and child welfare. The general public were also invited
to visit the various institutions in the borough working
under or in connection with the Public Health and
Maternity and Child Welfare Departments. The amount
of health educational work done during the week was
most satisfactory and many thousands of people visited
the Council's stand.
The Flooding in July.
An extremely heavy deluge of rain occurred on the
afternoon of Monday, 11th July, 1927. This followed
a severe thunderstorm and resulted in considerable
damage to property. A sad feature of the storm was
the death of a little girl aged one year and seven months,
owing to drowning; this occurred in a basement in
Munster Road.
Records taken at the Hammersmith Pumping Station
in Chancellor's Road showed that 2.65 inches of rain
fell in two hours, and it was estimated that more than
a million tons of rain fell in Hammersmith, Fulham,
Kensington, parts of Wandsworth and Hampstead, which
were the areas chiefly affected by the storm.
In Fulham the flooding was most acute in Sands
End Ward and in West Kensington, where basements
are numerous. The sewers were unable to deal with
the large quantity of water and the back pressure of
the flood water burst open the manhole covers in many
instances, so that flood water containing sewage overflowed
into the basements generally through the ventilation
openings under the floor or under basement doors;