Tornado Hits London...

Severe tornado hits London
08 December 2006

LONDON: A severe tornado ripped roofs off homes and tore down walls in a residential area of northwest London, injuring six people.

Television footage showed a trail of destruction in Kensal Rise, with trees uprooted and cars damaged by falling debris. Tornadoes in Britain are normally weak and rarely cause damage.

Local resident Daniel Bidgood was in his house when the tornado, which he said was about 20 metres across, smashed his windows.

"It was very large and certainly very powerful," he told BBC television. "You could see it ripping up heavy chunks of mortar and smashing it into cars."

One man in his 50's was taken to hospital with head injuries. Five other adults were treated for shock and minor injuries after the tornado struck at around 11 am.

Around 100 houses were damaged, a Fire Brigade spokesman said, "so I would imagine several hundred people may be displaced". Some of those evacuated were being housed in local churches.

More than 20 fire engines were sent to the scene and the area was cordoned off.

"SEVERE"

The London tornado was rated at T4 on a scale of 0 to 10. This means winds were moving at between 115 and 136 mph, rating the tornado as severe, said a spokesman for the Meteorological Office.

Britain experiences between 30 and 40 tornadoes in an average year, he said, but they rarely hit built-up areas. In July 2005, a tornado in Birmingham damaged dozens of homes.

The cost in London could run into millions of pounds. Houses in the area cost an average 550,000 pounds, a local estate agent said. The Association of British Insurers said most home insurance policies would cover the costs.

"You're not likely to find the word 'tornado' in a UK insurance policy," a spokesman said. "But it would be covered under 'storm damage'."

Tornadoes are a vortex of swirling air caused by a build-up of heavy thunder clouds. The Met Office spokesman said it was impossible to tell if global warming had a role to play in the London tornado.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for southern England, with heavy rains and winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour, after the warmest autumn in the last 347 years.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3893427a10,00.html

wtf!! ive never heard of london getting tornados!!

Yeah me either, my mom informed me of this...

i third that... london? tornadoes? wtf?

That is awesome... The world is changing, and maybe the scientists will get off of their asses, and allow us to leave this Rock!!!

I wanna blog from the moon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When Tony Blair and Dubya held their press conference this week, Tony was asked if he'd agree with the idea that the Administration's plans for the war in Iraq were falling apart. Seems he said

"that'd be about as likely as....."

mG

its the end of the world as we know it

hold it there, not so fast... you tought it would be fast and painless...
our world or better said mother Earth will die in... I guess in 50 years or so... slowly with disasters and plague
we should be happy to live in "gold age" and in western standards...

if just china and india achieve a western standard, which would be, my guess, soon judging by economical progress and if they start spending a much as average american then it's too late

take eastern islands for example... there was actualy a big civilisation there and it wasn't allways so grassy as it is now... it's well known that there grew one of the biggest palm trees so far known about and guess what happened when their so far advanced civilisation cuted last tree on the island... no more firewood, harpons, boats or tools for statues... they went then in to extreme canibalism...

is that what's waiting for us?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KilLAtomiK

its the end of the world as we know it

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I feel fine.

If I don't survive, tell my wife, "Hello!"