"I heard a crazy noise... 30 seconds later half my neighbour's house was torn off": Horror of residents caught up in Greater Manchester 'tornado' as major incident is declared

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Residents have spoken of the 'crazy' moment a 'localised tornado' hit Tameside overnight, wreaking havoc on local houses. Matthew Marsland, who lives opposite the badly damaged homes on Hough Hill Road, said he heard a 'crazy noise' and 'vibations through the window' for about thirty seconds when the freak weather event hit at around 11:45pm on Wednesday night (December 27).

He told the Manchester Evening News he went into the street to pick up some debris after and noticed a gutter lying in the middle of the road, before he realised his neighbour's roof had been destroyed. READ MORE: 'The painful moment I learned what some people are really facing' READ MORE: 'We have parents asking if their kids can vape in exams - where will it end?' "I heard extreme noise at my back window," he said. "I was stood at my patio door and there was just basically a crazy sounding noise and then vibrations through the glass. "I looked out of the window and saw a bit of debris so I thought I'd go out and pick a few bits up...Then I saw a piece of tree next to my neighbour's car, then I looked further along the street and saw a gutter in the middle of the street so I thought I'd go and pick that up, and then I saw my neighbour had had half his house torn off." He said the whole incident lasted '25 to 30 seconds'. "Two or three minutes later the entire estate was on the street, and we were just wondering what would happen next," he added.

He said he 'saw the intensity of the rain' through his back door and 'could feel the moisture of the rain through the glass'. "I wouldn't have had time to react even if I had wanted to - and then before anything had happened it was all over." Also caught up in the storm was Coun Dave Sweeten from