UK Tornado A Direct Hit On Distinctive Indian Cuisine

[hatrack]

A freak tornado that wrought a trail of destruction across Britain's second city Birmingham has left its famous balti industry reeling, restauranteurs said Monday. Balti cuisine -- in which curry dishes are cooked in small two-handled pans known as karahis -- was invented in Birmingham, in the English Midlands, by immigrant chefs from south Asia in the 1970s.

Some 40 restaurants are concentrated in Birmingham's "balti belt" along Ladypool Road that was badly hit by the July 28 twister which left several buildings badly damaged. Mohammed Yaqubali, who has shut down one of his Lahore Karahi restaurants due to structural damage and seen a 50 percent slump in takings at the second, said the famous area is becoming a "ghost town".

"The balti belt is well-known throughout the country and Europe," he said. "It's a big attraction for tourism. We're the pioneers of this creation of balti cuisine. But a lot of people who have booked have now cancelled. This is becoming a ghost town."

The tornado -- a phenomenon virtually unknown in Britain -- lasted less than a minute, but lifted roofs off houses, overturned cars, uprooted trees and terrified locals used to the more moderate weather of a British summer.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/2005/050808153114.umsia2ha.html

[phantom power]

1. Somebody here cited an average of 33 tornados/year in the UK.

It seems as though they wouldn't be "unheard of" at that frequency. (Assuming that figure is accurate)

[beam me up scottie]

2. It depends.

If it's an F0, chances are people won't know it was a tornado, especially if it occurs in the countryside.

[Nihil]

3. Believe "tornado" also includes "waterspout" at landfall

Most of the UK's tornados start over the sea and move a short way
inland. There are occasional tornados (like this one) that are
totally landlocked but the majority occur at the coast.
Birmingham is just about as far from the sea that you can get in
the UK so someone there might never have seen or heard of one directly.

(This is no excuse for never having seen reports on the TV, dramatic
photos in the newspapers or such like but would explain the initial
"WTF" response.)