[30 OCT 00] CRIMES, FIRES & ACCIDENTS
Storms Bring Havoc To The Area

Chaos hit Coventry and Warwickshire this morning with heavy winds and rain bringing devastation to the area.

Police and fire crews were inundated with pleas for help as residents woke up to trees crashing on to cars, roads and power lines.

All trains running through Coventry were cancelled as lines were blocked and power cables brought down. Birmingham International station was closed when part of the roof caved in.

Fire crews were called into action at around 6.30am as the gusts intensified. Crews from Radford fire station had to pull a tree off the Kenilworth Road and Radford Road during the rush hour.

There were calls to deal with a roof blowing off a house in Middlemarch Road, Radford, and a tree falling on a car in Holyhead Road.

Station officer Danny Moynihan said crews from the station were also called to help out in Solihull, which was hit harder.

Warwickshire police reported more than 100 weather-related calls in the north of the county, as flooding in some areas caused further problems.

The occupants of a car in Water Orton had a narrow escape a tree crashed onto it, and in Marston Lane, Bedworth a vehicle was stuck in flood water.

The A4098 near the Belfry golf course was blocked, and cables were reported to have fallen in Nether Whitacre.

In south Warwickshire there were reports of around 100 trees falling.

Areas badly affected included the B4086 between Wellesbourne and Stratford, which had eight trees blocking the road, and the A452 between Kenilworth and Leamington, where floods added to difficulties.

The ford in Castle Road, Kenilworth flooded, closing the road, and a tree blocked the road just outside Henley School in Henley-in-Arden.

Police in the West Midlands appeal for people to only use ring 999 in times of an emergency after being swamped with calls reporting falling trees and floods.

They urged drivers to take care when driving, to be patient and allow longer for journeys.

A Virgin Trains spokesman said the company was urging all passengers not to travel. No trains are running south of Birmingham on any service, and it will take a long time ore the damage is fully assessed and the track re-opened.