Monday, November 30, 2009

Tornado treft Caversham... ( bbc)

Roofs and walls hit by 'tornado'

The wall in the playground of the school was blown over
Tiles were ripped off roofs and a wall was flattened by what residents described as "a mini tornado" which hit Reading early on Saturday.

An 8ft (2.4m) wall behind St Anne's Primary School in Caversham was blown over but nobody was hurt.

Other residents reported that their garden furniture had been "thrown around" and trees were also blown over.

The Met Office said it "believed" it could have been a tornado but could not confirm that it was.

A spokesman said that for forecasters to confirm it was a tornado it would have needed to see it happening or see a photograph of it.

However very strong winds had been battering the Reading area overnight, it said.

A local resident called Karen said: "I'm sat in a chair looking at [the school] now. It's all cordoned off at the moment.


The strong winds also lifted tiles of roofs
"A chimney pot must have gone through the roof because the chimney stack is missing and there is a big hole in the roof."

Paul Denley, who also lives in Caversham, said he was woken up by the noise at about 0400 GMT on Saturday to find an 80ft (24m) tree had fallen over in his garden and the roof on his summerhouse had disappeared.

He said: "I just heard a gust of wind and I got up and had a look out the window but couldn't really see anything.

"I came out into the conservatory and turned the lights on and saw this huge conifer [lying] across the garden."

Mr Denley said his garden furniture was scattered across the garden and tiles had come off his and his neighbours' roofs.