Hainault tornado

A family who had to be evacuated after a “tornado” wrecked their house have told how the freak winds turned their home into a “war zone”.

The roof of the house was badly damaged after last week's 'tornado'

Schoolgirl Sophie Stewart, 11, and her mum Mandy Belcher, were made homeless after the storm ripped off their roof in The Lowe, Hainault, on Tuesday of last week.

The winds hit just after noon, seriously damaging 20 houses, smashing cars and flattening trees and a bus stop.

Her grandmother Carol Belcher, 66, was in the house at the time: “It was absolutely terrifying,” she said.

“At first there was this weird whistling noise and I looked out the window. It was raining so hard but I could see slates smashing through the fence and the iron table being thrown across the garden.

She added: “It was like a horrendous war zone. One minute the noise was deafening, but the next minute it was gone.”

Sophie said her grandmother screamed as the wind hit: “You could see the water going round in a circle outside. All you could hear was whistling and smashing tiles. I was so scared.”

Later that afternoon, the house was declared unsafe and the family were evacuated. Sophie and her mother Mandy Belcher have been staying with friend Jessica Cassidy, 13, since then.

Best friend Jessica was also in the house at the time and photographed the damage for the Recorder, and we published her alarming eyewitness account last week.

Mandy Belcher says she now has “no idea” how long it will take before she can move her family back home, and says the damage will cost thousands of pounds.

Jessica said she could she the sky from the damaged loft roof

Schoolgirl Jessica Cassidy, 13, was left “petrified” at a friend’s house in The Lowe when the storm struck and tore off the roof, leaving a supporting wall dangerously lop-sided.

Here she gives Recorder readers her first hand account of what happened: “I didn’t see at first as I was in a moment of shock, but when I did look all I could see was plant pots and bits of roof tiles flying around in a circle and then smashing. I could feel the floor vibrating.

“I was with my friend Sophie and her nan Carol. We were all petrified and couldn’t believe it. After an hour or so I went outside and had a look – it was a complete disaster.”

It was only then, as she started to take the photographs shown here, that Jessica looked up to the roof of the house and realised the danger she was still in.

Teenager Jessica Cassidy documents the storm damage in The Lowe, Hainault

She continued: “I noticed holes in the roof, and we found that there were hardly any tiles left and we could see the sky from the loft.

“A few builders, firemen, and councillors had noticed the wall was tilted and the house was in danger so they had to get a temporary place to stay in and that is my house.”

Remarkably no one was seriously hurt by the wind which damaged 19 houses and caused as yet incalculable damage to cars and property as it ripped through a number of Hainault streets.