Door Industry Journal - Spring 2015

Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk 58 THE door industry journal spring 2015 garage doors feature The Great Storm of Dawlish - and the resilience of a Birkdale Roller Door The first of a series of major storms happened during the evening of Feb 4th 2014, the 100mph winds and the rough sea conditions had a devastating effect on the people of Dawlish. Hit by 100mph winds, the sea banks of Dawlish gave way, causing a land slide and a significant stretch of the sea wall to collapse. Roads and railways were damaged and people were left stranded. The strong winds caused damage to peoples’ homes; walls and driveways were washed into the sea with the land slide. Through all this disaster and damage to homes, Birkdale customer, Steve Briers, wanted to show his gratitude to the company for the resilient garage door installed on his property. Steve says: “My neighbour’s property was the worst affected and their garage effectively ended up in the English Channel. We all kept our fingers crossed for at least a couple of weeks, fearing further washouts and collapses. The road which was swept away was called Riviera Terrace and the incident is now referred to as The Great Storm of Dawlish. “Another storm came in and hit on the night of 14th Feb, again causing further washout of the railway and further damage to local property. The railway line connection was cut for two months re-opening on 4th April 2014. The repairs are ongoing and multi millions are being spent. Throughout the strong winds and salty sea water hitting properties, the garage door was untouched. The driveway had collapsed and many people in the area received extensive damage to their properties but, through all of this, our garage door stayed fully intact. “The garage door outshone expectation. I can say through all the damage to Dawlish sea banks, roads, railways and properties, I was more than happy that the garage door stayed in place and fully functional. With no vehicle access to my home I was still able to store salvaged items and new building materials in my garage, which made the process of renovation less painful” Birkdale are offering sales and installation training on all of their products so if you would like a demonstration of what makes our doors so resilient please call 01724 282171 or email sales@birkdale.biz . Read more about the storm and view a video on the Birkdale blog http://goo.gl/ufs9WW