Cyclone!

A couple of days ago I noticed it was very windy in the morning while I was having breakfast. I looked out of the window when I heard some crashing and banging and saw some large panels flying through the air. Some of them landed in the five-a-side football fields - luckily there were no games being played - and some landed in the road. 

The wind got steadily worse and panels continued flying at intervals. The local news said we were having a cyclone and the building losing the panels made the headlines. Eventually the civil defense turned up and closed off the local streets before someone got hurt. The panels were large and made of metal and could easily decapitate someone. Three days later the streets are still closed off.

This is the culprit, a neighbouring building which is 30 stories high, the panels were part of the cladding. They were flying through the air like sheets of paper with no way of telling where they were going to land.

This photo shows one peeling off. It is a miracle no-one was hurt as the street some of them landed in is used by commuters and very busy before it was closed.

One panel fell in these trees directly below my study window in our grounds.

Another landed on this car parked right below my sitting room. The photo gives an idea of the size. Needless to say I closed my wooden shutters where I had them as a precaution, although the large windows in my kitchen and sitting room which faced the danger do not have shutters. The wind did not die down until the end of the day. Three landed altogether in my condominium.

Elsewhere quite a few large trees came down and in the evening we had a power cut. I was on my way out to a birthday dinner and had to finish getting ready showerless and in the dark, then walk down eight flights of stairs, and back up again when I got home later and get ready for bed in the dark. Exciting times!