sallycinnamon78
New Yorker
Whoa! This is nuts! We had a tornado today in Birmingham. 120 miles an hour, ish.
I know folks in the States get a hell of a lot worse (I lived in 'Tornado Alley' for a few years before coming back to the UK). It's freaky though - the BBC says that there are more tornadoes per square mile each year in Britain than the USA. Here in England, we get tons of regular mini-tornados, but they're so tiny that nobody realises, notices, or cares. So this is really unusual for us, to say the least!
From the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4725279.stm
Prediction for today was:
We had a silly little one on June 24th, too:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/4619225.stm
I know folks in the States get a hell of a lot worse (I lived in 'Tornado Alley' for a few years before coming back to the UK). It's freaky though - the BBC says that there are more tornadoes per square mile each year in Britain than the USA. Here in England, we get tons of regular mini-tornados, but they're so tiny that nobody realises, notices, or cares. So this is really unusual for us, to say the least!
From the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4725279.stm
Last Updated: Thursday, 28 July 2005, 17:52 GMT 18:52 UK
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Tornado injures 19 in Birmingham
Amateur footage of the Birmingham tornado
The tornado lasted only for a few minutes
Nineteen people have been injured - three seriously - as a tornado ripped through the streets of Birmingham.
The sudden storm damaged buildings, uprooted trees and trapped people in their homes. The Met Office estimates the wind speed may have reached 130mph.
One sq km of damage was caused in Kings Heath, with "hundreds" of properties affected, council officials said.
Emergency services are using dogs and specialist equipment to see if anyone has been trapped in damaged buildings.
West Midlands Fire Service said the areas affected included Kings Heath, Moseley, Quinton, Balsall Heath and Sparkbrook.
The Met Office explained tornadoes were especially rare in built-up areas and that this was the worst seen for years.
It looks like something from a film set
Julia Banner
Eyewitness
Caroline Ward, from the Jon Carrie Nursery in Moseley, said the tornado ripped out fences and toys were whipped into the air.
"Luckily we got the children all inside but they were very frightened," she told BBC News.
Julia Banner, who works in a care home in Moseley, said: "All of a sudden it got dark, the front door blew open and all the notices blew off the notice board.
"The kitchen window was open and all the crockery smashed to the floor.
Car damaged by tornado
The storm hit with very little warning
"It all happened in just a couple of minutes. There is a tree through a car and trees on houses - it looks like something from a film set."
A Met Office spokesperson said: "From the reports we have heard we would estimate that this is a tornado with a rating of T3-T4, that would mean it had wind speeds of between 93-114 mph for T3 and 114-130 for T4.
"A typical description would be that motorcars were lifted and destroyed, roofs removed from buildings and weak buildings destroyed.
"We have an average of 33 reports of tornadoes in the UK each year but these are especially rare in built-up areas and there has not been one of this strength in many years.
"City centres are not the natural habitat of a tornado; the tall buildings would normally stop their formation."
You can send any footage or pictures you may have to 07921 648 159 or to yourpics@bbc.co.uk
Prediction for today was:
Latest UK Weather and Flood Warnings http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/bbcweather/todays_forecasters.shtml
Thursday 28 July WEATHER WARNING Torrential thunderstorms moving north from the Midlands into Northern England including Lincolnshire could pose a danger to life. The very heavy rain is accompanied by extremely gusty winds which have already caused structural damage in The Midlands. Valid until 2100.
Thursday 28 July WEATHER WARNING Heavy downpours will affect northern and eastern England, including the north Midlands, Southern Scotland and north Wales into this evening. The torrential rain together with hail and gusty winds will make driving conditions dangerous and carriageways will flood. Valid until 2100.
Thursday 28 July FLOOD WARNING There is one flood warning in force in the Midlands. Further updates will appear here.
We had a silly little one on June 24th, too:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/4619225.stm
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