Powerful storms hit central and southern Europe, killing at least 12 people, including three children. In some places the wind reached speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour.
In Corsica, France, a 13-year-old girl died in a storm on Thursday, and trees at a campsite fell on her. A 46-year-old man lost his life in a similar event. In addition, a 70-year-old woman was killed. It happened when her car was hit by the roof detached from the hut standing on the beach. Two other fatalities were a 62-year-old fisherman and a 60-year-old canoeist who died at sea.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who arrived in Corsica, reported that 20 people were injured – four of them seriously.
Due to the dangerous weather conditions, almost 13,000 people were evacuated from several campsites on Thursday evening. – We’ve never seen a storm like this one. You’d think it’s a hurricane, said local restaurant owner Cedric Boell. And in fact – in Corsica the wind reached a hurricane speed, exceeding 200 kilometers per hour.
The effects of the storms in CorsicaReuters
Storms in Austria
At least five people died in Austria due to storms that reached the country from the northern Mediterranean coast on Thursday. Two girls aged four and eight are among the fatalities.
– They were located near the city of Sankt Andrä, in the federal state of Carinthia on the border with Slovenia. There, several trees were uprooted by strong gusts of wind, reported Melanie Reiter, spokeswoman for the Austrian Red Cross.
“The violent storms in Carinthia took the lives of two children and seriously injured others,” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer wrote on Twitter.
Three more people died under fallen trees in the town of Gaming in Lower Austria, a region surrounding Vienna. It is not clear whether the trees fell due to strong winds or a lightning strike, police said.
The wind in Austria on Thursday was blowing at gusts exceeding 100 kilometers per hour. Heavy storms caused power cuts, which forced the Austrian railway company OeBB to stop services in large parts of Styria and Carinthia. Many roads in these regions have been closed to car traffic.
Storms in Italy
In Italy, a man and a woman were killed by storms. They were killed by falling trees in two separate incidents in the Tuscany region.
A strong wind also hit Venice, where from the bell tower of St. Mark’s stones fell.
Main photo source: ENEX