The rioting reached our area well over an hour ago and continues to grow worse. The police are overwhelmed and there are too many streets, nooks and crannies in the city for them to effectively contain the destruction. Over 30 arrests were made earlier this evening, at least, but there are LOTS of people below destroying shops, etc.
We're hoping that we remain safe here but the potential for setting fires around the city is still out there, which is our greatest fear right now, of course. I can hardly hear myself think for the variety of sirens and alarms going off outside as glass continues to break and objects beat metal amidst the angry yelling from the hooded people. Whether we go into work tomorrow or how long we stay there if we go will depend on the situation here. The streets are owned by the vandals and their racing car counterparts right now.
8 Aug: Half-past midnight on the first night of the riots
I wrote an email to my project manager earlier in the evening, letting her know that my coworker and I were safe amidst the riots that had begun in Birmingham that day. A few hours later, I wrote another email, part of which is below:
