BLOCKS of masonry plunged into a Derby city centre street in front of startled shoppers yesterday as Force 10 winds blasted Derbyshire.
An elderly man was hit by lumps of the falling stone but remarkably escaped with only minor injuries.
The man, in his 70s, was taken to hospital with an injured shoulder after the incident just before lunchtime in East Street.
But startled eye witnesses said it was a miracle nobody was more seriously injured.
In other incidents as the 65mph winds swept through, brickwork plunged to the ground in the Wardwick, part of the roof of the Royal Derby Hospital was blown off, drivers were stranded when two falling trees blocked a road in Spondon, an electricity pylon in Ripley fell over and there was widespread travel disruption and more minor damage.
Video of the scene in East Street, Derby, yesterday:
Balder Singh, 67, of Peacock Grove, Littleover, was in the Derbyshire Building Society at the time of yesterday's incident in East Street and said everyone was told to stay inside for an hour.He said: "I saw the man who was hit. I'd say he was inches from death.
"We were probably just three minutes from walking under it ourselves, which is very scary.
"We are incredibly lucky and so was the man."
Mr Singh, who was with his wife, added: "I heard the receptionist call for an ambulance for the man, which was very dramatic.
"He looked like he was in his seventies, I think.
"It's a miracle nobody has been killed with how many people were in the city at the time.
"Me and my wife, Perminder Kaur Singh, went for a meeting with a financial adviser.
"It's a meeting we will never forget for the rest of our lives.
""I regularly walk in this area and it's always busy."
Rajwinder Sindhu is a staff member at Bags for You which is based only yards away from the former Co-op store. from which the masonry came.
The 26-year-old, of Wordsworth Avenue, Sinfin, said: "I was sitting in my chair when I heard a really loud bang.
"It had been very windy all day and the shop sign had fallen over a few times, which was making a noise.
"This was a lot louder, though, and I saw about 30 people gather to see what had happened outside.
"With how windy it was, lots of people could have died and it could have been much worse."
Within minutes of the incident, emergency services arrived and began cordoning-off the area, asking people to stay inside.
Chris Cooper, a Derby Telegraph newspaper salesman, was based yards away from the cordoned-off area and underneath the building.
He stayed resolutely throughout the winds and decided against moving.
The 59-year-old, of Hampshire Road, said: "I've been selling newspapers in this spot for three-and-a-half years and this is the most dramatic thing I've seen by far.
"I'm under the same building and it could have easily fallen on me.
"There were a lot of frightened people in the area but it was a very quick thing."
Derby City Council confirmed The Co-Operative still owns the building.
A representative from the company visited the site yesterday and scaffolding will be erected today so investigations can be carried out on its stability.
Meanwhile, firefighters arrived at the Revolucion de Cuba bar at 2pm having left the scene at East Street minutes earlier.
Leon Groom, 34, who owns the Wardwick pub opposite, was having a business meeting at his premises when the masonry fell.
He said: "I heard a massive bang, turned around and saw the stone falling from about 80ft. It was a miracle nobody was hurt or has died.
"We rushed outside and decided to kick some of the rubble away from the road, looking up at the same time to make sure we were not going to be killed.
"There's traffic every few seconds on the street, so there was a good chance somebody could have been hit. It would have been horrific if someone had been underneath."
Leon added: "It's a huge miracle that nobody was under there. They would have easily died and that is why our first priority was for public safety. It's very worrying when you own a businesses and something like this happens just across the road."
Kelly Betts is the part-owner of Nail Basics on The Wardwick.
The 35-year-old Darley Abbey resident said: "One of our clients rushed into the store to tell us there was a lot of rubble on the street.
"It was very busy with people."
Later, severe winds caused damage to part of the roof at the Royal Derby Hospital.
It happened at the back of the building behind the Kings Treatment Centre and, as a result, hospital bosses closed part of the road around the grounds. Nobody was injured.
A hospital spokeswoman said firefighters were checking the safety of the area before the road was reopened. She said: "In the meantime, we've opened up the rear entrance to the hospital site to allow vehicles to leave the site."
At East Midlands Airport, where officials said there were delays on both inbound and outbound flights because of the wind, officials said winds of Force 10 strength were recorded.
Power cuts left hundreds of homes without electricity. Repairs were under way.
Just as one tree cleared away, Derbyshire's high winds bring another crashing downDrivers were forced to abandon their cars and walk home when two huge trees toppled into a busy city road and brought traffic to a halt.
Leaves, branches and debris also cluttered Lodge Lane and Sitwell Street, in Spondon, after the trees fell and completely covered the streets yesterday lunchtime.
It meant people trying to get to the village from the A52 were diverted and, with the road closed in both directions into the evening, it caused traffic chaos for several hours.
Dave Moore, 56, said he was forced to leave his car outside nearby Spondon Methodist Church and walk to his home, in Werburgh's Close.
He said: "I was just on my home for dinner when it happened. I had to leave my car because I could not get to my home.
"I have lived in Spondon for many years and never, to my knowledge, has this happened before."
Kevin Davison, 53, who lives on the corner of Sitwell Close and Lodge Lane, said one of the 50ft trees blew down just as a bus was approaching and fell into the wall at the bottom of his garden.
He said: "The bus was coming up the road and, all of a sudden, the tree just toppled down into the path of it.
"Traffic was at a standstill along the road but Derby City Council had workers on the scene very quickly and they were dealing with it well.
"It took some of the top bricks off the wall but there doesn't seem to be any other damage."
The debris from the trees – which were only yards apart – was flung into the air and into footpaths, meaning walkers were also unable to get past.
Sheila Simpson, 75, of Church Street, Spondon, said: "I saw the damage while driving in my car and came back out to walk my dog and have a closer look.
"It was so dangerous. People couldn't come off the A52 and people couldn't get home – I think they are probably old trees."
Alan Penfold, of Fowler Avenue, said he was unable to drive to the shops. The 62-year-old plumber said: "I was on my way to Asda and it was chaos."
Amateur weather forecaster Martin Harris, of Spondon, said he measured wind speeds of 48mph in the village but said these were likely to be faster in more exposed areas of the city or county.
The incident was among hundreds of call-outs received by Derbyshire police yesterday afternoon – with the force reporting a 150% increase in calls, from 100 overall to 250 weather-related, from noon to 2pm.
About 550 homes and businesses lost power for more than two hours yesterday morning after an electricity pylon fell, in Asher Lane, Ripley.
The road was also closed in both directions for several hours – as workers repaired electricity cabling and cleared the oil spillage which came from the pylon.
And further power cuts across the county meant Western Power Distribution was forced to call in extra engineering teams from the south of England and south Wales to help with repairs.
In Tissington, three people were trapped when a tree fell on their car, in The Avenue, at about 1pm. Police confirmed none of their injuries were life-threatening.
And, in Belper, residents were forced to chase a 10ft trampoline down the road after it flew out of a garden, in Hunter Road, and struck several cars.
Parts of Derby's Westfield Centre had to be cordoned off as maintenance teams checked the building was secure, while hoardings from behind Derby bus station blew into the road, forcing motorists to swerve.
And a tree also crushed several cars when it fell in the car park of the Mundy Play Centre, at Markeaton Park.
Other roads in Derbyshire blocked by trees included Markeaton Lane, Derby; Shardlow Road, Derby; the B5020 Station Road, Mickleover; the A517 Belper Road, near its A515 junction, Ashbourne and the B5023 Derby Road, Wirksworth.
At East Midlands Airport, one flight from Paris was cancelled yesterday afternoon and several others delayed.
Storm force 10 gusts were reported at the Castle Donington airport, which also received flights diverted from other airports.
East Midlands Trains services also experienced "severe delays".
TWO DIE AS ATLANTIC STORM BATTERS BRITAINTWO people were killed and thousands have been forced to flee their homes after a powerful Atlantic storm battered Britain for most of yesterday.
One man died after he was struck by a falling tree in a park in Retford, Nottinghamshire.
And a lorry driver was killed when his HGV toppled on to a number of cars in West Lothian, Scotland.
Emergency services have launched rescue operations after fierce winds and flooding swept across the country.
Parts of Newcastle city centre flooded after the River Tyne burst its banks.
And more than 10,000 homes on the coast were earmarked for evacuation after officials warned that the lives of people in the regions could be at risk from the worst tidal surge for over 60 years.
The Met Office said the Atlantic storm brought severe gales of between 60mph and 80mph across the country and some mountainous regions in Aberdeenshire and Inverness-shire reported speeds of around 140mph.
Across the country more than 100,000 properties were hit by power cuts.
The Environment Agency (EA) issued a number of severe flood warnings – the highest category which is only issued when flooding poses a danger to life – along coastal areas in East Anglia, the Midlands and Kent.
