Freak weekend storm left a trail of damage and injury

THE accident unit at Burton District Hospital Centre was at full stretch following a freak storm in January 1976.

Many people were treated for injuries caused mainly by flying debris, and even the unit’s canopy was ruined by the gale.

Part of it landed in an ambulance, but no one was injured.

Those treated included an 86-year-old woman who suffered facial injuries when the wind pulled her off her feet; a man who was cut near the eye when a roof tile smashed through his bedroom window; and a boy who was hit in the chest by a broken fence.

The 10 mph weekend storm caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.

In Saxon Street, Stapenhill, two sisters narrowly escaped death when two 16ft chimney stacks crashed into their bedrooms, burying furniture, clothes and belongings beneath piles of rubble and splintered beams.

Lilian Hill, a retired music teacher, and her sister Edna were in a downstairs room listening to the radio. They were unhurt and had to stay with a neighbour.

Edna said: “At least the house is not a write-off. And we have met some wonderful kindness from neighbours.”

Lilian said: “We are very fortunate. We have our lives. But I don’t want to see the bedrooms. We would see what might, have happened to us if we had gone to bed earlier.”

Staffordshire Fire Brigade received 130 calls over the weekend, 72 of them from the Burton area.

One of the most serious cases of storm damage was at the Miscellaneous Stores, The Old Post, Newhall, where the chimney stack was brought down and came crashing through the roof, causing considerable damage.