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DONCASTER ground to a halt
as gale-force winds battered the borough causing traffic
mayhem and forcing police to shut down parts of the town
centre because of flying debris.
The 75mph winds on
January 15 felled more than 240 trees leaving
Doncaster’s road system struggling to cope with the
chaos while Doncaster Council received reports of damage
to 25 buildings.
But astonishingly, no-one was
reported to have been injured during the hours that the
howling winds wreaked havoc.
Police moved quickly to
cordon off several areas of the town centre, including
Baxter Gate, Clock Corner, Market Place, High Street and
Priory Place due to debris falling from roofs and unsafe
buildings. Scores of market stalls were also badly
damaged by the winds.
However, the ‘“Dunkirk spirit”
appeared to be alive and well in the town as locals
clubbed together to help the many travellers left
stranded by cancelled flights, buses and trains. |
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Frenchgate
Centre manager Susan Sambrook said: “It was a monster
storm. We had to shut our doors on St Sepulchre Gate at
one point because there were roof tiles coming off
adjacent buildings, but there was a bit of the old
Dunkirk spirit going on. Our customer service desk was
kept busy right through the evening searching for hotels
because there were so many stranded travellers. The
structure of the Frenchgate held up rather well though;
we were very relieved.”
Nursery school children at
Armthorpe Tranmoor Primary School had a lucky escape
when a 30ft tree was blown over, missing a classroom by
just a few inches. Pupils were sent home as a precaution
after the main school roof also became unstable in the
storm.
All the major road networks in and out of the
town came to a standstill oduring the bad weather with
Bawtry Road one of the first to close when the roof was
blown off the former Doncaster Rovers supporters' club,
the Rovers Return. |
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