Blustery 69mph winds blasted scaffolding off a building and across a road in Deptford.
Poles and planks were torn off the side of the Meridian Point building on Creek Road at around 3.45pm on Tuesday, January 2.
Met Police officers and firefighters rushed to the scene but thankfully nobody was hurt.
Local resident Catherine Woodhouse said two sections of scaffolding fell off at the front and rear of the building.
“Oh my gosh! The front fell off then the back fell off,” she said. “They cleared it from the road last night they were still doing it at 9 o’clock last night. Some of it is standing at an angle!”
“I’ll look up when I’m walking around from now on!” she added.
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson spoke to local crews and told Southwark News: “They came across the incident whilst responding to another call but the Met Police were already in attendance and the scene was considered to be safe so no action was required by the Brigade.
“Thankfully no one was hurt,” they added.
Traffic was severely disrupted in the immediate aftermath but has largely returned to normal according to the AA’s traffic monitoring service.
South London and much of south east England was buffeted by powerful gusts last night (January 2) in a severe gale dubbed ‘Storm Henk’.
Yellow weather warnings have now been issued for Thursday and Friday as people brace for another battering.
The Meridian Point building had already suffered disaster once before in April 2022 when it caught fire.
The fourteen-hour-long blaze damaged large parts of the building including the facade.
1) apartment block fire Over 3 hours since I saw it ignite and called the fire brigade. Parts of the walls now completely destroyed. Multiple flats on fire. probably near 100 firefighters here. #deptford #greenwich @LondonFire pic.twitter.com/UThdWUjqbq
— CASTALLE (@catherinejw_) April 26, 2022