Description:The Tornado struck Balsall Heath about 2.30pm on 28 July 2005. West Midlands Fire Service declared a "major incident" after deploying 15 appliances to a one-square-kilometre area where hundreds of buildings were damaged - many losing their entire roofs.
A section of the Balti Triangle - which centres on Ladypool Road, Sparkbrook - was left resembling a war zone - with fruit, glass, masonry, tyres and furniture littering the streets.
Eyewitness Brian Cassidy saw the rain slanting sideways and revealed how he joked to a friend: "In America you got a hurricane after this."
Mr Cassidy, who was walking to a shop in Ladypool Road, said he then noticed the wind picking up and jumped into his friend's car and watched as the tornado passed over.
The 30-year-old carpenter from Balsall Heath said: "It hit a roof and just lifted it off.
"It was definitely a twisting motion. I could see grown men on a garage forecourt crying, holding their ears.
"It was like breaking matches. Ladypool Road is a write-off." Photograph by Tom Fenn