Portchester tornado: Shock as tornado hits homes in Hampshire
‘I thought my roof was lifting off’
A group of neighbours woke up to destruction on Friday morning after a tornado hit their homes overnight.
Kevin Saunders, 58, of The Crossway, Portchester described to The News how late on Thursday, October 22 there was an “intense” gust of wind followed by a “massive bang”. It woke him and his wife up but lasted less than a minute.
The destruction was not discovered until the morning when Kevin and his neighbours found that a wall had been knocked down with fences damaged and pots smashed. It had not occurred to them that it could have been a tornado until a knock on the door on Friday from the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO).
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Kevin works for a shipping company as a cargo supervisor and with the weather affecting his job he checked the forecast before going to bed. There was nothing that alarmed him as Storm Austen was not expected to hit until Friday morning.
He said: “We were asleep and then about 11.30pm to quarter to 12 we just heard a massive rush of wind. I have not heard anything that loud before. It was an intense rush of wind and I thought my roof was lifting off. Then all of a sudden we heard a massive bang, which all we can put it down to is my neighbour’s garden wall has gone down, so we think it was that.
“It just seems to be located two or three houses either side and across the road. It lasted 35/40 seconds and it died down and we just heard the rain then. We didnt realise the destruction until we got up the next morning.”
His wife Sara told him “you better come downstairs” after seeing the state of the garden.
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Kevin said: “It was a complete mess, the roof was missing off the jacuzzi which was found in my neighbours garden. Our fences are seven foot but its ripped it up and shot it over them.”
After the visit from TORRO, what happened started to make sense.
He said: “The sheer intensity and the speed of which it came and went, I said to my wife ‘I think it was a tornado’. Our fences have been up since 2013 and been through god knows how many storms. They are special zinc alloy fences imported from Australia and they are so strong so we have never worried about the wind.”
Despite that, the gust on Thursday night saw them “completely wrecked”. Fortunately for Kevin they came with a 25 year guarantee which has meant they been able to be fixed.
A spokesperson for TORRO has confirmed that it was a tornado. They said: “Just after midnight on October 23, a weak tornado affected Portchester on the Hampshire south coast, with a land track of around 1 mile. It was associated with heavy showers that developed over the Channel and moved inland, linked to Storm Austen. If you saw or heard it, or have photos, video or doorbell footage of the damage, please send them to TORRO with the time and location.”
According to the privately-supported research body, there are around 36 tornadoes a year in the UK (based on a 30 year average from 1981-2010). While colloquially some of these may be referred to as ‘mini-tornadoes’, they are all tornadoes no matter the size or strength.