Lights out! Lighthouse is swamped by 160ft waves - as high as 11 double-decker buses -
Climate change? Rising, violent seas--the swamping has begun...
* This is the dramatic moment a lighthouse off the coast of France was pummeled by massive 160ft-high waves
* The entirety of the structure, in Quessant, France, was engulfed by the massive swell which struck in February
* Photographer Mathieu Rivrin said the waves were so powerful he could feel the sea spray from inside the helicopter
'It's called Phare de la Jument as Jument is the name of the rock where the lighthouse was built.
'The building itself is 47m high and throughout the day the waves were between 15-20m tall. I was in a helicopter to capture these images.
'The winds were very strong - 140km/h [85mph] during Storm Ruzica - or Storm Imogen in English - so only one helicopter could fly over the storm at the time.
'I was about 20m away from the lighthouse when I was photographing it. Sometimes, as I was taking the pictures I could feel the spray of waves reach me.
'It wasn't scary but it was fascinating. I've been dreaming of a moment like this since I was five years old.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3525950/Lights-Lighthouse-swamped-160ft-waves-high-11-double-decker-buses-85mph-winds-strike-French-coast.html
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This is the future for New York, London and other great coastal cities. Think of these kinds of swells breaking at the base of One World Trade Center in NY and lapping at the foot of Canary Wharf in the East End of London. Major upheaval in the offing.
= new reply since forum marked as read
thanks for posting that, it was interesting.
the tiny ship was tossed..........
the water would leak down the walls during nor’easter's!
The noise from the crashing water must be infernal.
And it has been happening before, just not caught with a camera. There is a reason that this lighthouse is fixed to the ground with extra steel cables.
Those are amazing photos...and it is indeed scary to think of those swells hitting coastal cities.
Thank you for posting these, Surya Gayatri. ot...I hope your hip is mending well. 
is coming along. I'm able to get out to do my own shopping and run errands now, using just one crutch or a cane. I only limp when I'm tired.
Another month or so, and I should be good to go.
Lake Michigan can be a real bitch.
And you thought that the ocean was a bitch. Well, this is our bitch!
Another:
And it's really, really big!
My recommendation is if you want to swim, plan on a short swim. It's fucking cold, even in summer. However, the north shore is also fucking beautiful.
Check out Agawa Rock.
The path isn't easy:
But the Hiawatha story is on the rock cliff:
Written there hundreds of years ago.
It is a nice trip. One can camp at the provincial park or get a bed in Wawa, Ontario. Both are nice.
My best to you.
When I was very young my family took the Badger across Lake Michigan from Ludington. That was when they took railroad cars, too. The problem was that they had to balance the damned ship before they could leave port. Well, my father, my two sisters, and I were fucking seasick before we left the dock. The god damned SS Badger was rocking back and forth and back and forth as they balanced the railroad cars. My dad held my head while I hurled over the railing. And he was doing the same.
Once we got going, the Badger was cool. My seasickness went away (thankfully).
And the SS Badger is still going across Lake Michigan, from Ludington to Manitowoc, WI.
Here:
Passing past the Ludington lighthouse. It's a big ship, 410' long.
http://www.ssbadger.com/
and waves were splashing the windows on the bridge. What a ride!
USS ALBANY CG10
Or are those the waves of a normal north Atlantic storm?
Did it do any damage to the lighthouse? Did it extinguish the light? Did it cause ripples in the lighthouse keeper's glass of wine?
Helicopter? No F...... Way!
btw, London is not a coastal city. It's a bit up the Thames river, though a really big wave could go upstream. It does have a mechanical barrier that can be closed if a big wave threatens.
Wave-washed lighthouses usually sit on rocky ledges that lie just beneath the surface of the water. These ledges are actually the tips of underwater mountains. So, the ocean floor surrounding the ledge is shaped kind of like a ramp, with the lighthouse sitting atop the shallowest section. These formations make big waves, and lighthouses built on them get hammered. Relentlessly.
This is Minot's Ledge, just off the coast of Scituate, MA. The tower here is actually the second one built on that spot. The first was a built from bunch of metal rods, like a jungle gym. Engineers figures the open structure would provide less resistance against the waves. They were wrong, of course. An 1851 storm ripped the lighthouse from its moorings, killing the two assistant keepers tending to the light at the time.
Lit in 1860, the current light was the most expensive built in the United States at the time. Solid granite proved a better building material.
It is nothing new. It was constructed on a rock set well out into the water.
The seas have always been rough in this area, where the English Channel, Celtic Sea and the Bay of Biscay all meet.
