26/01/2014 Midlands Today


26/01/2014

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 26/01/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Good evening. It's been a day of clearing up after yesterday's huge

:00:09.:00:13.

storm which left a trail of destruction. Several families were

:00:14.:00:16.

forced to abandon their homes after what's described as a mini`tornado

:00:17.:00:19.

swept through a village in Warwickshire. Giles Latcham reports.

:00:20.:00:25.

Filmed by a villager in Galley Common near Nuneaton, debris

:00:26.:00:27.

everywhere, the immediate aftermath of freak weather some are describing

:00:28.:00:35.

as a mini tornado. I looked out of the window and I could see this

:00:36.:00:40.

tornado whipping round. Next thing we knew the whole lot was coming

:00:41.:00:44.

down. Three families were moved out

:00:45.:00:47.

overnight, their homes left uninhabitable. We had a load of

:00:48.:00:52.

rubble collapsing. My mum got scared, I heard her shouting, and a

:00:53.:00:57.

policeman knocked on the door saying part of the roof had come off. Look

:00:58.:01:07.

at the back of this VW here, the tiles still in place. Can you

:01:08.:01:11.

imagine what damage they would have done if they had hit a person? My

:01:12.:01:15.

father's quite shocked. He's lived in the village for as long as I can

:01:16.:01:19.

remember. We've never had anything like this happen. At a nearby riding

:01:20.:01:24.

school, they were rehoming their horses today, the storm ripping the

:01:25.:01:28.

roofs from a row of stables. There were horses running around

:01:29.:01:33.

everywhere, as everybody had to run to let them out. It was pretty

:01:34.:01:38.

frightening. This series of pictures shows the storm's progress across

:01:39.:01:41.

the region, the darkened skies illuminated by lightning,

:01:42.:01:45.

accompanied by hailstorms. The lightning struck at Ha'penny Green

:01:46.:01:48.

near Bridgnorth and travelled down the television aerial of a house in

:01:49.:01:51.

Stirchley in Birmingham, starting a blaze. One big bang and the next

:01:52.:02:01.

thing I knew it was right up to the ceiling, all the flames. It cracked

:02:02.:02:07.

all the window. A woman was treated for smoke inhalation after lightning

:02:08.:02:10.

set fire to homes in Stourbridge, but there are no reports of serious

:02:11.:02:12.

injury. Two international energy companies

:02:13.:02:18.

have told the BBC that they've ruled out fracking in the West Midlands.

:02:19.:02:21.

They say the geology of this region will prevent commercial drilling.

:02:22.:02:27.

Ben Godfrey reports. Dart Energy wants to start fracking in the UK.

:02:28.:02:32.

The multinational operates a third of the 33 licensed sites looking for

:02:33.:02:36.

oil and gas in the West Midlands. But their boss says they won't be

:02:37.:02:42.

fracking here. This is our less attractive area from a technical

:02:43.:02:47.

perspective. Our geologists have looked at the subsurface and we

:02:48.:02:52.

think it is unlikely to be a significant player in unconventional

:02:53.:02:57.

gas. Fracking involves drilling into shale and widening tiny cracks, some

:02:58.:03:02.

less than a million metre wide. Water, sand and chemicals are pumped

:03:03.:03:07.

in at high pressure to flush the gas to the surface. Another energy firm,

:03:08.:03:14.

Cuadrilla, which drew protests at its Lichfield headquarters last

:03:15.:03:17.

year, is also ruling it out here. The Prime Minister is offering

:03:18.:03:22.

councils incentives if they support fracking, such as keeping more money

:03:23.:03:27.

in tax revenue. We've got to look closely at what the Government's

:03:28.:03:30.

offering for that. That's balanced against the need for cheaper energy.

:03:31.:03:35.

There needs to be, if fracking did come about, real advantages to the

:03:36.:03:39.

community. There's certainly no political consensus. While

:03:40.:03:44.

Staffordshire hadn't ruled out fracking applications, over the

:03:45.:03:48.

border and Conservative`led Cheshire East council, which includes George

:03:49.:03:51.

Osborne's constituency, doesn't it want it here. One planning expert

:03:52.:03:56.

says there needs to be more public debate about fracking. We don't at

:03:57.:04:00.

the moment have a coherent energy policy, so fracking is being evolved

:04:01.:04:07.

within this gap in policy. It might appear as an opportunist cash and

:04:08.:04:14.

grab. While shale rock in the West Midlands isn't even as commercially

:04:15.:04:18.

viable for fracking, others have thought about drilling into coal

:04:19.:04:26.

seams to extract methane. The Government has been defending

:04:27.:04:29.

the salaries paid to HS2 bosses. The chief executive appointed to run the

:04:30.:04:32.

high`speed rail project is being paid ?750,000, and the new Chairman,

:04:33.:04:36.

Sir David Higgins, who visited the Midlands this month, has a salary of

:04:37.:04:39.

almost ?600,000. They're tasked with ensuring the ?43 billion scheme is

:04:40.:04:41.

completed on time and on budget. It is a large salary. It is huge!

:04:42.:04:52.

There is no question about it, but I'm pleased that engineers rather

:04:53.:04:56.

than bankers can be seen to get big rewards for delivering what will be

:04:57.:05:01.

very important pieces of national ininfrastructure.

:05:02.:05:04.

Football, and the region's interest in this year's FA Cup is over. Stoke

:05:05.:05:10.

City's 1`0 defeat at Chelsea means none of the Midlands clubs has made

:05:11.:05:13.

it through to the fifth round. Now, what's happening with the

:05:14.:05:15.

Midlands weather? Charlie Slater has the forecast.

:05:16.:05:16.

it through to the fifth round. Now, what's happening with the Good

:05:17.:05:17.

evening to you. We've had a bit of everything today. A lot of wet

:05:18.:05:20.

weather. Unfortunately there's more to come as we go through the night.

:05:21.:05:25.

What's more interesting, because it is cold, some showers could turn

:05:26.:05:30.

wintry. We are talking accumulations of snow mainly over higher ground,

:05:31.:05:34.

where you might get a dusting. But you could get snow at lower levels

:05:35.:05:40.

as well. Quite an icy start to Monday. As we go through the day,

:05:41.:05:45.

there is more wet weather to come. When you throw more wet weather into

:05:46.:05:49.

a cold air mass, you might get more sleet and snow.

:05:50.:05:52.

We're back just after 10.15pm. Until then, have a good evening. Goodbye.

:05:53.:06:02.

Until then, plenty more news on our website. Bye-bye.

:06:03.:06:07.

Good evening. will keep going through the nights

:06:08.:06:12.

tonight and as the air turns colder,

:06:13.:06:17.

tonight and as the air turns wintry. A mixture of sleet and snow

:06:18.:06:21.

leaving us with the risk advice The band of rain has cleared

:06:22.:06:22.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS