Comments on: The Birmingham Tornado

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 13:49:27 +0000

pls c above

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 13:47:29 +0000

Hi
I saw the sky news preview of the tornado which occurred 5 months ago, if some one genuinely returns my email I may be able to donate some furniture to whoever needs it in good condition. I reside in Central London if transport can be organized for collection. We r currently looking @ a fridge 2x wardrobes 1x queen sized bed 1 single ortho bed 2x single bunk bed mattresses a micro wave(900 watts) a wooden table which can be used for dining 2xbedside drawers.

By: zoe

zoe — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 21:09:28 +0000

hello my name is zoe and i tjink it is really mean what mother nature can do

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 23:57:33 +0000

I am a TV Producer trying to get in touch with people whose homes were damaged as a result of the tornado. I am looking for anyone who was inside their home when it struck and can describe what it was like.
If this is you or you know someone who fits this description please get in touch.
Thanks very much.

michellefobler [at] fireflyproductions.tv

By: mike

mike — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 02:06:05 +0000

fucking tornado

By: Lawrenson, M

Lawrenson, M — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 03:35:36 +0000

This event is a warning for those who think global warming’s only result will be being able to sunbathe in October…

By: Jez

Jez — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 17:50:47 +0000

Hello all. Thanks for everyone’s good wishes. We’ve been very lucky, and bin bags taped over windows aside are pretty much back to normal. The roof, while still attached, will need relaying, there’s a large tree fallen into the garden, the car’s probably written off, and as Pete mentioned, there are several windows broken. And that’s it. We’ve cleared up, and moved as much of the tree as we can. All around the tree gangs have had chippers going pretty much non-stop, and last night a council crew came through with a JCB and tipper lorry to scoop up the piles of debris in the road. Things look almost back to normal.

Up and down the road there are people who’ve lost roofs, chimneys, cars and more. Further down from us, toward Sparkbrook, I can see houses with their roofs completely ripped off, some with collapsed walls as well. On Queenswood Road, there are houses are being demolished. The local housing association has thirty families that need rehoming.

Everybody has their own tornado story. Mohammed, next door, is wheelchairbound: a slate smashed through his double-glazing and he was covered in glass, but was unhurt. The lady next along was asleep in her attic bedroom when the roof and part of the wall were ripped off – she tried to get out, but couldn’t get the door open. On the other side, a woman has pieces of slate embedded in the wood of her bed. On again, as Pete said, the whole roof has been ripped off, but directly opposite all Nick’s pot plants and hanging baskets are untouched and as immaculate as ever. It mindbogglingly unbelievable that so few people were hurt.

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 21:36:39 +0000

Different paul here. After years oif living in hurricane/tornado country (and having experienced Alicia full on in 1982) I was shocked to learn about the Brum tornado. At first I assumed it was exagerration but photos of a real tornado descending out of typical green sky convinced me of the freakness of a tornado in Middle England.

Events like this do indeed bring out the best in people, sometimes the worst (my neighbor wanted to charge me to supply an extension cord across the street 1982 as we were without power and he had no damage). If there is anything I can do to help Jez and family, let me know.

I am simply amazed that so few people suffered injuries, particularly as there is no culture of moving to an inside room when a freight train appears to be bearing down on your house. I’ve heard that sound in Houston and it was not nice at all even though the tornado touched down four blocks away.

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 08:40:46 +0000

I’ve just realised that that is indeed your friend Jez’s house – I met Jez during the sale of the house and he was very nice…I’m glad to hear that they’re all ok…

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 08:29:51 +0000

Um…The house in the pic with one house in it (rather than the one with the green door) is the house I grew up in which my mum sold a couple of years ago…this gets more and more strange…

By: lizzie

lizzie — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 03:37:13 +0000

I am sorry about it i am at a frinds house here

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 19:15:12 +0000

Interesting to see that if you type in ‘small heath tornado’ into Google, it’s your page that’s top of the list!

By: Anna

Anna — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 20:44:13 +0000

That was kind of the point I was trying to make: now that there are sites specifically for sharing images, that are well-designed and easy (and free) to use, they’re going to be where people are going to go first instead of blogging applications. Especially with the way everything is being integrated…

It looks pretty scary, though. I’m glad no one was hurt.

By: Pete Ashton

Pete Ashton — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 18:17:13 +0000

There was a geniune community spirit thing going on in the streets – everyone helping everyone else, guiding the police and firemen to potential trouble spots, sharing information.

Makes you think – if you really want to engender a tight-knit community the best way is to just fuck everything up and let human nature kick in.

By: Jenni Scott

Jenni Scott — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 17:36:44 +0000

Wow! How horrible and yet how fascinating. Good on you for going round & helping out — what else are friends for, of course, but that’s the sort of thing that’s really important in the world of nowadays.

Terrorism and tornados — it starts to seem like the end times… (ok, not so much when compared to other parts of the world!)

By: Pete Ashton

Pete Ashton — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 17:31:43 +0000

Anna: It’s just way easier to slap photos on Flickr, plus I wanted to get them into the Birmingham pool ASAP, reportage-style. With this post it took me a couple of hours (with a break for pizza) to get everything straight in my head and write it down, but then I do tend to spend more time on this blog than I used to.

By: Lawrenson, M

Lawrenson, M — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 12:29:54 +0000

Very bad luck for Jez there, though I’m sure his insurance will cover it.

Good photo of the tree. One less leylandii in the world, yay!

By: Jeremy Dennis

Jeremy Dennis — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 07:37:19 +0000

Oh no! Poor Jez!

By: Anna

Anna — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 06:44:35 +0000

I spotted your pics when I was on Flickr earlier, and immediately came here to see your post, which you hadn’t written yet, and then it crossed my mind that Flickr and other photo-sharing sites are the new blogs, aren’t they? Used to be you’d check peoples’ personal sites to read what they’re going through during a major event, and now they’re too busy posting their photos to write about it as it’s happening…

Interesting development.