Storm Ciarán forces Jersey families out of homes

Families forced from their homes in Jersey during Storm Ciarán have been put up in hotels, as winds of more than 100mph left fallen trees, flooded roads and ripped roofs from homes.

A tornado and strong winds battered the island overnight, with 40 people evacuated from their homes.

High tide swells surged on Victoria Avenue amid road closures, shut schools and cancelled flights and ferries.

The government has assured residents medical supplies will remain available.

There had been some concerns supplies could start to run out with the island effectively cut off.

Carl Walker, chairman of Jersey's Consumer Council, said Storm Ciarán hitting the island was like a "scene from a disaster movie".

He described "marble-sized" hailstones coming together to create "golf ball sized lumps of ice".

"We camped out in our living room downstairs with our children because it was just simply too noisy and too frightening to be upstairs in the bedrooms - tiles were lifting, debris was hitting the roof, windows were flexing," he added.

The Government of Jersey closed all its schools and colleges as the Met Office confirmed overnight wind speeds had hit 103mph (164km/h). They will remain closed on Friday as well.

Police in Jersey, meanwhile, said officers had received 107 emergency 999 calls and 270 non-emergency calls by 06:00 GMT.

Emergency services and staff from Infrastructure and Environment worked through the night "to answer hundreds of calls from islanders, with the vast majority related to storm damage".

Centenier Paul Davies, of the Honorary Police, said: "It's very very busy, there's lots of roads closed off, trees down and we're trying to divert the traffic as best we can."

At 08:00, as the "worst part of the storm" hit the island, police urged people to stay in their homes as winds of 90mph (145km/h) wreaked havoc outside.

Confirming about 600 islanders had lost power, Jersey Electricity said its teams were working to restore connections "as soon as possible", while Condor Ferries cancelled all its sailings for the day.

Residents at FB Cottages in St Clement said about 12 homes had been damaged overnight, forcing them to seek shelter in their lounges.

Police said there were "lots of trees down island-wide", including one that blocked Le Mont Fallu in St Peter, while the west coast was also battered.

Islander Megan Williams said the "swell was insane" at Greve de Lecq, while another resident described Pier Road as "wild and loud" at about 08:30.

The government said the morning high tide had been 11.5m (37ft 7in), or 1.1m (3ft 6in) higher than had been predicted.

Residents reported tiles being blown off, fences taken down and greenhouses smashed, while Mark Bailey-Walker, sergeant commander for Jersey Fire and Rescue Service, confirmed "a lot of structural damage" across the island.

At St Clements and FB Fields the roof of a padel court was blown off and goal posts pushed across FB Fields.

By lunchtime, winds had slowed to 50mph (80km/h), although a yellow warning for rain and wind remained in place until 17:00 GMT.

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