Full hurricane panic in the Swedish paradise − children blown awa

Majorca

The holiday horror: Mallorca crippled by storms  

Nora Fernstedt  

Updated 22:32 | Published 21:46 

News 

A violent storm completely shocked Mallorca on Sunday.  

Palmer has crashed into cars. Videos show tourists fleeing in panic from flying sunbeds.  

The hurricane winds also carried two children on air mattresses. 

It started as a calm Sunday morning in the Swedish paradise, with a steady rain. 

But at 11 o'clock in the morning, the storm suddenly hit out of nowhere.  

"The sky darkened and the rain was almost horizontal", it is described in the local newspaper Majorca Daily Bulletin. 

Sign fell down on pregnant woman  

Large parts of the island have been affected by the severe storm, which hit with wind gusts of up to 34 meters per second.  

 

Screenshot from witness video. 

Screenshot from witness video. In one hour, the rescue service in the Balearic Islands received 84 different incidents - including fallen trees and flooded basements. Over half of the alarms came from Mallorca's capital, Palma. By 2 p.m. a total of 223 incidents had been reported.  

In the town of Calva, a pregnant woman was injured when a sign fell on her.  

Outside the Malgrat Islands, the rescue service had to go out to rescue a drifting kayaker.  

And in the popular resort of Illetes, two children had to be rescued after they were blown away while lying on air mattresses.  

Cruise ships collided  

The strong winds also tore free a British cruise ship that was moored in the port of Palma. 

 

Screenshot from the municipality's film.  

The cruise ship P&O Britannia then collided with a freighter. There were no major injuries, but the passengers must remain on board until a technical examination of the ship has been carried out.  

Many flights have been canceled and trains and trams had to be stopped.  

Fortunately, no one appears to have been seriously injured. However, palm trees have fallen over a large number of cars, and houses have been blown to pieces.  

No major highways appear to have been affected by flooding - but authorities are urging caution. 

Not over yet 

On social media, tourists share videos showing the drama of the holiday idyll.  

There, water is seen rushing along cobbled streets while people take shelter inside restaurants.  

A woman is seen running for her life to avoid being hit by flying sunbeds.  

Aemet, Spain's meteorological institute, has warned of more severe storms and hurricane-force winds during the evening. An orange warning for heavy rain and thunder is in effect until midnight.  

FACTS  

Windy storms  

*SMHI describes a storm as a storm with strong winds. What is meant is storms where the average wind speed is at least 24.5 meters per second.  

*A hurricane is a storm with an average wind speed of at least 32.7 meters per second