15 August 2005

The tornado that swept across south east Birmingham on 1 August left a 6km long and 200m wide trail of destruction through the residential areas served by the CSV Environment Run a Muck project.

The extent of the damage to trees and buildings was much worse than media coverage showed and thousands of residents were evacuated.

By mid-morning on Friday, the Run a Muck team was helping clear drives and pavements to give people access to their homes. The roofs of every one of the 100 houses in one road where they started work were badly damaged or missing.

CSV's Probation Partnership team continued the work over the weekend.

Now that the initial crisis is over, CSV will be giving ongoing help to residents who are unable, physically and/or financially, to deal with debris from fallen trees in their gardens.