Major damage after violent tornado in France

 

TT

Published 07.02

 

Fallen tree trunks and houses damaged by a tornado swept through the town of Pomas in southwestern France on Monday evening. Photo: Idriss Bigou-Gilles/AFP/TT

A tornado has caused great devastation and injured dozens of people in southwestern France.

Roofs have been torn off residential buildings and tree trunks are lying on the roads in Pomas in the Aude department. The tornado swept into the village late on Monday afternoon, after storm warnings in the southern parts of the country.

15 injured people have been taken to hospital. In one case, a wall collapsed on a pregnant woman, her husband tells French media.

Pictures show how a rotating column of clouds drifted through the area. In the nearby city of Carcassonne, the temperature dropped from around 30 degrees to around 19 in less than an hour.

Around 300 homes have been damaged, reports the newspaper Le Monde. About a hundred firefighters and rescue workers are on site to help.