The tree uprooted by the twister narrowly missed taking down a power line

High winds described as a small “twister” hit a Norfolk town, causing minor damage to homes, power lines to swing violently and trees to fall.

The winds, which hit Watton on Sunday afternoon, uprooted an oak tree and residents reported damage to tiled roofs and school playgrounds.

Branches were thrown across roads but no major problems have been reported.

Weather experts said it was possible the damage had been caused by a funnel cloud or “twister”.

Resident Stevie Willis said: “Tiles came off roofs and the local primary school’s outside adventure play area received some damage.

“A few family back gardens were also hit.

“My sister and niece stood at the front door and watched it go through.”

A spokesman for BBC forecaster Weatherquest said: “About that time, a line of thunderstorms came through from the North Sea, and Watton was in line with them.

“It is likely to be a funnel cloud or a twister would form and because there was damage on the ground it is likely to be the case.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-11126311

Brian Hardman by the remains of the Old Forge at Great Livermere following Monday evening's tornado gthat struck the village

A TORNADO has left a wake of devastation after it ripped through a quiet Suffolk village.

The freak twister tore through Great Livermere around 5pm yesterday, tearing up trees and destroying roofs.

Joyce Still scrambled to hide in her hall to avoid flying glass as the devastating weather was raging overhead.

“It was like a bomb had gone off,” she said. “It was really terrifying.

“The window smashed in and there was glass flying everywhere.”

In less than a minute, the twister left a huge trail of destruction, tearing down part of an historic forge at the heart of the village green.

Brian Hardman, 57, had just left the small cottage when the tornado brought the flint walls crashing down.

“There was an almighty roar then I heard all this banging and smashing,” he said. “It is heartbreaking to see the forge like this.”

Neighbours were today rallying to help each other as the massive clear-up operation began.

Tree branches and roof tiles still litter the floor as stunned villagers begin to take in the scale of the devastation.

Bill Dean, 69, said: “We were scared for our lives.

“Hopefully it is something you only experience once in a lifetime.”

http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/freak_tornado_hits_village_1_602070

On 28 July 2005, parts of south Birmingham were devastated by a freak tornado.

Five years on, residents and emergency services remember the frightening moment it struck.

Nasir Akhtar was putting up shelves in his home in Alder Road, Balsall Heath, when a loud banging noise began outside and the sky darkened.

“I could hear materials banging against the door,” the 29-year-old teacher said.

“When I looked outside I could actually see debris flying and it went totally dark within about five minutes.

“You could hear car alarms going off and cars had been flung around.

“The windows upstairs popped first, the wardrobe and bed started flying towards the door.

“Then the front window popped downstairs.

“I grabbed my brother-in-law and we ran into the pantry downstairs – it was the only place where there wasn’t glass.

Alder Road in Balsall Heath was one of the worst affected areas

“There was so much noise. I had no idea what was happening. It was so quick our brains could not comprehend it.”

The tornado lasted just a few minutes but caused an estimated £40m of damage in the Moseley, Kings Heath, Balsall Heath and Sparkbrook areas of the city.

Twenty people were injured and taken to hospital as the tornado reached speeds of up to 130mph.

It travelled over a one kilometre path, past 4,400 homes and 617 businesses, lifting off entire roofs and uprooting trees.

There were no deaths – it was about 1430 BST and most people were not at home.

Alder Road in Balsall Heath was the worst affected area.

Mr Akhtar and his family, along with many others, had to evacuate their home and were only able to move back in 13 months later.

The roof had been ripped off and needed to be replaced.

The house has since been redecorated and has new furniture – the only item the family managed to salvage was a bed.

Caroline Ward, owner of the Jon Carrie nursery on School Road, Moseley, was taking care of 23 children aged between two and four, who were playing outside when the tornado began.

“All I seem to remember is that the light went peculiar, it was a peculiar light, it was almost dark but it was not dark,” she said.

“I got worried and got all the children in.

“Within two minutes it was like watching a version of the Wizard of Oz, with the whirlpool going round.

“It took all the toys in the playground – the big plastic house, the trampoline, slides – and the six-foot high fencing.

“I was just very thankful we got the children in because it would have taken the children.”

Firefighters Sean Moore and Rudy Parkes, international search and rescue specialists, were called to help look for casualties.

“To be honest, I thought it was a little bit of a joke at first,” said Mr Moore, from West Midlands Fire Service. “You just don’t get tornados in Birmingham.

“As we made our way there we saw huge great trees lying on the roads which started to hammer home to us how serious it was going to be.”

More than 100 firefighters were deployed, along with 25 fire engines.

“I just could not believe we did not have any deaths,” he said. “If it had been in the middle of the night, we would have had a huge number of deaths for sure.”

More than 160 people were moved to temporary accommodation as Birmingham City Council began a clean-up operation.

Ladypool Road, a busy high street at the heart of Birmingham’s ‘Balti Triangle’ – famed for its Asian cuisine – was hit badly, with many shops and restaurants left in need of urgent repair.

A £1m fund to help these businesses was set up by the council, which included a marketing campaign to encourage people back to the area.

It took Khalid Rafiq, who runs Royal Sweets on Ladypool Road, almost two years to get his business back on track.

The shop has been fully restored and customers have returned but business is still tough.

“I have nearly recovered but it’s not like before the tornado,” he said. “The tornado came and within seconds it took the business down.

“Once you have gone down a bit it takes time to come up again.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-10762750

Paul Verheyen looks over the damage to his house caused by a severe storm and possible tornado in Leamington, Ontario.

Tornadoes and thunderstorms have killed at least seven people in the US state of Ohio, officials say.

At least 50 houses were destroyed and many more damaged in north-western Ohio, local firefighter chief Todd Walters told AP news agency.

Several people were taken to hospitals as the storm left an eight-mile (13km) path of destruction, hitting Lake Township particularly hard.

The extreme weather also affected parts of Illinois and Michigan.

‘War zone’

The high school in Lake Township was among the hardest-hit buildings.

Some buses were thrown across the school car park, Superintendent Jim Witt said.

Lake Township Police Chief Mark Hummer described the affected area as “like a war zone”.

He said a child was among the victims.

Mr Hummer said later that the authorities had finished searching damaged buildings and he was not aware of anyone being reported missing, but fields and woods were still being searched.

Nuclear plant

In Michigan, the Fermi nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Erie was shut down after high winds tore a side from one of the buildings.

Dan Smith, public information officer for Monroe County, said investigators were inspecting the plant and it was expected to go back into operation soon.

An eyewitness in Illinois said the city of Streator had been badly damaged.

“I saw people coming out of their homes right after the tornado hit; a second story of a house was taken off,” Eddie Lavallie told the Chicago Tribune.

Streator Mayor Jimmie Lansford told a news conference that 17 people had been taken to a local hospital for treatment – and 30 buildings had “major structural damage”.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10250215.stm

A powerful tornado has hit Chongqing municipality in south-western China, killing at least 23 people.

The state news agency Xinhua reported that at least 160 people had been injured, but the number of casualties was still being checked.

Rescue work is underway in Liangping and Dianjiang districts, Xinhua said.

Crops were destroyed and homes smashed when the tornado hit the two districts of the sprawling Chongqing municipality before dawn, according to Xinhua.

State media also reported that electricity had been cut off in areas hit by the storms.

At the heart of the municipality includes the huge and rapidly growing city where a major campaign against organised crime is under way.

Chongqing, which has a population of about 30 million people, also includes rural districts, such as those hit by this weather system.

Story from BBC NEWS:

© BBC MMX

Researchers hope the study will help improve tornado warnings and forecasts

An international team of researchers are embarking on what has been described as the most ambitious tornado study in history.

An array of instruments will be deployed across the US Great Plains, where violent twisters are more common than anywhere else on the planet.

It is hoped that the data gathered will improve tornado warnings and forecasts.

More than 100 scientists will be involved in the study, which will continue until the middle of June.

“Tornadoes rank among the most destructive weather events on Earth,” said Dr David Dowell, one of the project’s principal investigators and a scientist for the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

“It is imperative that we learn more about how they develop and why some are so powerful.”

The study, Vortex2, will use a range of enhanced mobile radars and other weather-sensing equipment in order to build up a comprehensive picture of the zones where tornadoes develop.

Researchers say that rapidly changing contrasts in wind and temperatures in an area just a few miles across can spawn a tornado in a matter of minutes.

But, they added, only a small percentage of “supercell storms” generate twisters, and standard observing networks and radars struggle to pick up the atmospheric conditions that lead to the formation of a tornado.

On the road

The radar fleet for the field project includes 10 mobile radars, which will track winds and precipitation in the tornadoes and the surrounding area.

The radar fleet for the field project includes 10 mobile radars, which will track winds and precipitation in the tornadoes and the surrounding area.

The team will also be using more than 36 portable surface weather stations, weather balloons, and they hope to send an unmanned 12ft aircraft to the edge of severe storms to collect data.

The study area stretches from West Texas to south-west Minnesota, covering more than 900 miles (1,450km).

The researchers will not have a fixed base, spending the entire six weeks on the road following outbreaks of severe weather.

The project will build on the findings from the original Vortex study, which was conducted in 1994-95 and gathered data on supercells – long-lived thunderstorms that can spawn tornadoes.

The $12m (£8m) project is primarily funded by the US National Science Foundation, and will include researchers from Europe, Canada and Australia.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_environment/10093808.stm