Tornado wrecks 40 aircraft at Essex airport
 

40 aircraft damaged by a tornado in Essex.

Insurance bill will be expensive!

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/162837...rcraft-damage/

No sign of tie downs. Can see plenty of wing covers though!

Is insurance conditional on being tied down? I'd have thought so.

The tie-downs I've seen in the US are usually cable buried under tarmac with bits coming out to fix to.
The tie-downs in the UK are usually tyres filled with concrete or similar.
Or a spike driven into the soil if not provided by the airfield.

Did the Sun article exaggerate the event a little?
Incident 7 Various light aircraft + one helicopter , 29 Sep 2021 (aviation-safety.net)

If the 'new' helo they refer to was G-IDEB, well, yes, it was new... in 1982!
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Of course. It’s what they do...

..........how thorughly irrelevant.

Perhaps she was the source of the wind.

Fair point.

Often had doubts about tie downs. A 5 gallon drum with concrete in might seem heavy until you consider that the plane two of them are tied to is capable of lifting (more or less) 3 x 200 lb guys ....... if a 50 knot gust suddenly happens along,