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Violent tornado devastates French town, injuring 39
🇦🇷 Argentina /Disasters & Emergencies

Violent tornado devastates French town, injuring 39

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News From a news agency Outcome reported
  • A violent tornado struck the southern French town of Pomas, injuring 39 people, two critically.
  • The twister damaged about 300 homes and left a landscape of destruction in the Aude department.
  • Emergency services evacuated residents and provided temporary shelter as cleanup efforts began.

A tornado of unusual violence tore through the small southern French town of Pomas, leaving 39 people injured, two critically, and around 300 homes damaged. The destructive phenomenon hit the Aude department late Monday, with Pomas, a village of about 1,000 residents near Carcassonne, bearing the brunt of the storm.

Authorities reported on Tuesday that no one was missing. Seventeen people required hospitalization, and two remained in critical condition. Emergency services evacuated residents while technicians assessed the habitability of damaged houses. Temporary accommodation centers were set up for those displaced.

It passed at breakneck speed. At 5 p.m. we had children playing at the youth center, preparing for the local festival, and at 6 p.m. the town and its people were destroyed.

— Hervé GinéMayor of Pomas describing the tornado's rapid destruction.

"It passed at breakneck speed. At 5 p.m. we had children playing at the youth center, preparing for the local festival, and at 6 p.m. the town and its people were destroyed," said Hervé Giné, the mayor of Pomas. The tornado ripped off roofs, toppled walls, sent objects flying hundreds of meters, and destroyed numerous vehicles.

We felt like death was upon us.

— SéverineA Pomas resident describing her experience during the tornado.

Neighbors, family, and emergency teams worked to clear debris on Tuesday morning, with many damaged roofs temporarily covered by plastic tarps. In the surrounding fields, shattered lounge chairs, insulation, branches, and fence fragments were scattered by the powerful winds. Relatives and friends gathered at police checkpoints with supplies and tools to assist those affected.

"We felt like death was upon us," recounted Séverine, a Pomas resident whose home was nearly destroyed. She told French television that her family managed to escape in a car that began to shake violently in the wind. "We fled. It was survival instinct," she said. Images verified by Reuters showed the massive funnel cloud over the nearby town of Verzeille, with several houses in its path suffering shattered windows.

We fled. It was survival instinct.

— SéverineA Pomas resident explaining her family's escape from their home during the tornado.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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