Damage caused by the 2005 storm is still visible on Limo beach

Big storms have repeatedly during the years damaged Ruhnu island. On 18 November 1749 an unprecedented storm raved, which tore up and broke down many thousand trees in couple of minutes. A lot of buildings got also damaged. The wind carried away all the roofs of the houses. In 1810 due to the strong wind, the water level raised so high that the island was divided into two parts. A big part of the forest was destroyed because of the storm. In 1836 a big storm again destroyed some parts of the forest. In 1910 the storm broke down about 500 trees from the northern part of the island. On 15 April 1961, the mole of the then in building process Ringsu harbour got damaged, 175 metre-length stones and in part the top cover along the mole were smashed. On 2 November 1969 the storm (wind speed of 48 m/sec) broke down about 30,000 cubic metres of forest, which made up 65% of the total forest. In addition, the storm damaged buildings, took away roofs from many houses, drowned ships and boats, damaged fishing traps and harbour´s protection moles. On 9 January 2005, the storm carried the harbour buildings to the sea and broke down about 1,000 cubic metres of forest around the island. On the west coast of the island, probably the basis of the island´s oldest lighthouse was brought out from the coastal ground by the storm (see a settlement with the ruins of a lighthouse at Pärsi).

Created in 2013