ISLANDERS in St Clement awoke to “carnage” as a tornado “ripped through” their homes in the early hours of this morning.
Some properties had their windows blown in and roofs badly damaged as Storm Ciarán struck the Island with winds in excess of 100mph.
Footage has emerged showing one vehicle was even thrown from its parking space across a garden.
St Clement was among the worst affected parishes, with several residents telling the JEP a tornado tore through a number of properties.
One parishioner, Natalie Carre, lives in FB Cottages with her husband and two children.
She said: “We went to bed as normal and it was quite windy.
“We woke up at midnight to a massive bang – my son ran in and said something had come through the window.
“Tiles from neighbouring houses had gone straight through their [the children’s] windows. Luckily we have shutters which took most of it.”
She continued: “Half of the FB Fields trees have gone – it’s just carnage.
“We are currently packing to move out because we have no windows in the front of the house or a front door.”
She said the substantial damage was the result of a tornado that came from the coast road and “ripped through” the estate and into FB Fields.
“It basically went in a straight line and took out a row of houses all at once.”
Neighbouring residents Barrie and Karren Aubert said their family had dealt with similar damage.
Mr Aubert said: “We heard two really loud bangs and some lightning, then all of a sudden it felt like the air was sucked out of the house. Then it just blew, it felt like the roof lifted and the windows blew in. We have big holes in the roof and no windows in the front of the house.
“[The area] looks like a bomb has hit it – it’s awful. We have a fair amount of damage on ours but you look around some of the other [properties] and their roofs are virtually totally gone.”
Parish constable Marcus Troy said he understood the tornado had moved inland from the south coast.
He continued: “There is lots of damage around the parish.
“We’ve had to move lots of people out into hotel accommodation, but we were prepared for that.”
He added that more parishioners could be evacuated following inspections by the emergency services.
“We are still moving honorary police around the parish to evacuate these people as and when it is needed.”
