Roofs were torn off houses, trees blew down and walls collapsed as a small “tornado” tore through Greater Manchester during Storm Gerrit.
Police declared a major incident in Tameside at about 23:45 GMT on Wednesday “due to the severity of the damage caused and potential risk to public safety”.
Around a hundred homes have been damaged and people are being asked to avoid the area.
There have been no reported injuries.
The Millbrook and Carrbrook areas in Stalybridge were worst affected.
Carrbrook resident John Spence told BBC Radio Manchester: “I thought the windows were going to come in.”
He said he had never experienced anything like it.
“I was scared of going out,” he said. “It snapped my flagpole like a twig and took a tree down in my back garden that fell on the conservatory.”
Elsewhere in the UK Storm Gerrit has brought flooding and disrupted travel, with Scotland being the worst affected area.
The north-west of England, the southern coast, Wales, and Northern Ireland were also covered by Met Office yellow weather warnings on Wednesday, with heavy rain and wind battering those areas.
Fire and Ambulance crews and officials from Electricity North West and the council were also called to multiple sites across Tameside and a rest centre has been set up at Dukinfield Town Hall.
A tree has crashed through a roof on Grenville Street in Millbrook, with residents evacuated by the emergency services late at night.
In the daylight they are confronted with the impact of what has happened and are waiting by the police cordon to find out when they will be allowed back inside.
Residents said their houses shook and they heard a loud roaring sound and they feel they were lucky they were not hurt.
They think it only lasted for about thirty seconds, but in that short time, the lead lying on the ground, which is too heavy to lift, was blown off their roofs and onto the cars below.
Greater Manchester Police said the damage had been caused “due to a localised tornado”.
Ch Supt Mark Dexter said: “This incident has undoubtedly affected numerous people in the Stalybridge area with many residents displaced from their properties during the night.
“Our highest priority is keeping people safe which is why we are advising those who have been displaced not to return or enter their properties which have significant damage until they have been assessed by structural engineers.”
He added: “I would also like to urge members of the public to avoid the area where possible and take extra care when travelling in vehicles on the roads in Stalybridge and the surrounding areas, due to debris in the road.
“This has understandably caused some disruption and, though we are not yet in a position to confirm when the area will return to normal, further updates will be communicated when we have them.”
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