Tornado strikes Birmingham

[yorkie]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4336208.stm

Second tornado strikes Birmingham.

Another tornado has struck Birmingham under a mile from the scene of this summer's disaster.
Emergency services were called to Passey Road in Moseley early on Wednesday evening.

One home was evacuated after its roof was ripped off and a nearby road was closed, although no one was injured.

Weather experts said almost an inch of rain fell within an hour in Edgbaston and caused traffic chaos for many rush hour motorists.

Meanwhile, Central Trains services between Lichfield Trent Valley and Redditch have been suspended until further notice due to flooding in the Longbridge area.

More heavy downpours are expected throughout the evening

Resident Mohammed Saleem said he had not been in the house when the tornado struck.

"When I came back I saw it. There was debris everywhere. I was shocked it had happened again," he said.

His wife, four children and disabled mother have been forced to stay with his brother overnight.

"The upstairs of the house is gutted completely and water is coming in downstairs," he said.

Fire crews said they were unable to cover the house with tarpaulin as the structure had been taken away by the winds.

Neighbour Ritesh Bara witnessed the twister, he said: "I couldn't get a signal on my TV so I looked out the window and it was dark black.

"For a couple of seconds I couldn't hear anything from the pressure. I went outside and there was a thick, black smoke going around.

"The trees were bending in and birds were getting caught up in it too. It was terrifying."

A teacher at a nearby school said debris had been thrown through the air.

Maggie Hazel, from Springfield School, said several tiles were ripped from the roof.

'Tornado conditions'

She said: "One colleague saw it pass by, she saw something whirring and something fell and dropped by the window.

"We all felt the wind blow right through the building and wondered what was going on, then we heard a big bang.

"The worst damage was to a business across the road, something like a wooden pallet was picked up and hurled through the roof. It is still sticking out of it."

The weather conditions are similar to those of the afternoon 28 July when a tornado struck the Moseley and Kings Heath parts of the city.

Entire roofs were ripped off homes, trees were uprooted and cars overturned in the street as the wind whipped down the streets.

A Met Office spokesman said the second tornado was possible because of the heavy rain some areas of the city had experienced.

The Environment Agency has reported the River Rea, which runs through Northfield and Solihull is rising rapidly and is in danger of flooding.

Roads were closed in Sutton Coldfield and Harborne and flooding affected many more in Erdington, Stirchley, Small Heath and Edgbaston.

Did any of our Birmingham based members experience this?

 

[Techniquest]

It was raining pretty badly, with some strong-ish winds yesterday around the New Street area, but I left at 1742, so I didn't encounter anything odd.

 

[jd]

Well New St is quite a way from Moseley!

I live a few miles away from what people now seem to be calling 'Tornano Alley'. I haven't been involved in either tornado fortunately, but it seems all the radio and TV I've heard/seen today have been going on about it! All seemed normal on Kings Heath High Street this afternoon (which is where the first tornado first hit).

 

[47205]

It's not acctually a Tornado, it's Tornado Force Winds, we don't get Tornadoes/Hurricanes due to the way they spin

 

[Techniquest]

I didn't know where Moseley is. New Street is in Birmingham, so I replied, especially as I went through Longbridge. Rain was immensely heavy though.

Well done to trainlover123, glad you mentioned we don't get tornados like the US does. We get the winds, perhaps the heavy rain, but not the tornado itself.

 

[jd]

Good point.

Apparently just a few roofs damaged this time round!