The department of Indre had been placed on Sunday on storm alert, this Monday it lists the damage.
Heavy hailstorms caused damage in the area on Sunday evening.
The cause is a particularly powerful thunderstorm called a supercell thunderstorm.
This means that the phenomenon is very virulent, whether it is precipitation or wind.
This supercell was formed in Deux-Sèvres and took the direction of Burgundy where it gradually broke up, explains Keraunos, the French observatory for tornadoes and violent thunderstorms.
Very quickly, hailstones of an imposing size fell to the ground at the time of the formation of this massive storm.
#vigilanceOrange #Grêlons ⛈️ at the beginning of the evening in #Vienne, #DeuxSevres, #Charente and the North of #Gironde, (especially in Saint-Symphorien (33), Fléac (16), Vouneuil-sous-Biard ( 86), #Poitiers south (86), Aiffres, Thouars (79)...etc).
➡️FB page https://t.co/QFf0VIzdEI pic.twitter.com/pH7KgltSJs
— Guillaume Séchet (@Meteovilles) May 22, 2022
This photo, taken from a distance from the supercell at the start of its journey, clearly shows the extent of the phenomenon.
One of the supercells evolving in the north-east of the #Vendée seen from the south of Cholet by Yoann Brosseau #storm pic.twitter.com/D8qHZ8YKKz
— Keraunos (@KeraunosObs) May 22, 2022
Up close, the huge cloud is remarkably impressive.
Another view of yesterday's HP supercell in #Vienna, to the immediate southeast of the cloud-wall.
Violent #thunderstorm, with powerful gusts of wind, intense rain, continuous thunder and heavy #hail at this time.
Photo Keraunos.
pic.twitter.com/PHEnoRbLNp
— Keraunos (@KeraunosObs) May 23, 2022
In Niort (Deux-Sèvres), the hailstones began to reach the size of a tennis ball.
Here is the size of the hailstones that fell on #Niort tonight under the storm, the size of tennis balls!
https://t.co/XOvFXANHJs
— The Weather Channel (@lachainemeteo) May 22, 2022
Significant runoff and initial flooding affected the city of Poitiers (Vienne).
Significant urban runoff and local #flooding in #Poitiers due to the violent storm that swept through the city.
https://t.co/Yespzl0LRp
— The Weather Channel (@lachainemeteo) May 22, 2022
Once in Indre, the storm got even stronger.
This video, taken in the commune of Le Blanc, gives an overview of the power of the wind and the precipitation.
Le Blanc (Indre) violent #storm, #hail and gusts.
Trees on the road pic.twitter.com/oBvjnbEzU0
— Vincent Lhermet ⚡ (@VincentLhermet) May 22, 2022
The agglomeration of Châteauroux was strongly affected.
On these images filmed by a person on site, it is possible to see very large hailstones hitting the ground and bouncing very high.
"It's ruining everything.
I have never seen that.
It's huge !
Violence !
exclaims the author of the video, who is also worried about cars.
[#Hail in #Châteauroux Sunday evening] Impressive video of the large hailstones that fell on the agglomeration of @Chateauroux36 (#Indre), under the powerful #supercell, this Sunday evening... Some #hailstones exceeded the size of a ball of tennis!
Video: Homer Arikan.
#stormsc pic.twitter.com/QO2NaXjeL8
— Association Météo Center (@AssoMeteoCentre) May 22, 2022
These few photos show that vehicles could not resist the weight of hailstones.
Some measured more than 10 cm, reports The Weather Channel.
[#Hail in Châteauroux this Sunday] The powerful #supercell that affected #Châteauroux (#Indre) this Sunday evening caused enormous damage with large #hailstones damaging many vehicles, roofs, garden furniture...😔 Photos: C. Grodet, M. Turpin and J. Beucher.
#thunderstorms pic.twitter.com/y99nLl6kg7
— Association Météo Center (@AssoMeteoCentre) May 22, 2022
France bleu explains that firefighters intervened 200 times in the departments of Indre and Cher.
They moved for damaged roofs, fallen trees on the roads and ripped out electrical wires.
Several homes remain without power.
For the city of Châteauroux alone, an initial report shows a thousand damaged cars and 250 damaged houses.
Three-quarters of the houses in the Grands-Champs district were affected.
The assessment concerning the companies will be carried out as the day progresses and the damage is observed.
This Monday, locally strong thunderstorms, but less than Sunday, continue to occur.
Météo France maintains almost the entire country in yellow vigilance (level 2 out of 4).
It is in a vast eastern part of the country, on an axis going from Alsace to the south of the Massif Central that the most powerful phenomena are likely to take place.