Severe Tornado Sweeps Through French Village, Injuring Dozens
A tornado tore through a village in southwestern France on Monday, injuring 41 people and damaging hundreds of homes, according to authorities.
French officials had placed large parts of the southwest under orange storm alert ahead of the event, with numerous areas experiencing power outages and transport disruptions. In the Aude department, the third stage of the Vuelta a Espana cycling race was cancelled after a hailstorm forced riders to seek shelter.
The tornado struck hardest in Pomas, a village of roughly 1,000 residents, damaging an estimated 300 homes and ripping the roofs off several structures. More than 120 emergency workers were deployed to the scene, local authorities said, with 15 of the injured taken to hospital. Among them was a pregnant woman who was hurt when her house collapsed on her, according to her husband.
France’s national weather service, Meteo-France, said wind speeds reached up to 117 kilometers per hour in the nearby village of Arquettes-en-Val.
The storms disrupted transportation across southern France, delaying trains, forcing road closures, and causing delays and cancellations at airports in Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse, and as far north as Paris, according to Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot. Around 2,800 homes across 10 villages were left without electricity, officials said.
France typically experiences several dozen tornadoes each year, though Meteo-France says the influence of global warming on their frequency and intensity remains unclear.
