Tornado and severe storms in northern France: "Houses razed to the ground"
Created: 10/24/2022, 12:58 p.m
By: Patrick Huljina
Short but very violent: This is how the mayor of a small town in northern France described the storm that swept over his village on Sunday, complete with a tornado.
Bihucourt – Heavy storms including a tornado caused major damage in northern France on Sunday evening (October 23).
The wind partly blew the roofs off the houses, and there were power outages in several regions.
The small community of Bihucourt in the prefecture of Pas-de-Calais, around 50 kilometers north-east of Amiens, was particularly badly hit.
France: Tornado rages in the north of the country – "As if bombs had hit"
"It looks like bombs have hit our village," Mayor Benoît-Vincent Caille told French broadcaster BFMTV.
The storm was short but very violent.
"It took ten seconds," Caille explained.
He was at home with his family and went to safety in the basement after a loud bang.
About two-thirds of the houses in the village were damaged by the extreme weather, the mayor reported.
"There are houses that have been razed to the ground." The weather site "Météo Nord-Pas de Calais" posted a video on Facebook showing covered roofs and partially collapsed houses in Bihucourt.
One now hopes for support from the state and the prefecture to repair the damage caused, Caille said.
Severe storms in France: Interior Minister speaks of "considerable damage"
The prefecture of Pas-de-Calais wrote in a press release on the night of "strong tornado-type wind gusts".
In addition, she announced that a total of 150 people from Bihucourt were evacuated from their homes.
One person was injured.
The clean-up work should therefore begin on Monday (October 24).
In France, a storm including a tornado caused major damage in the small town of Bihucourt.
© Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin wrote on Twitter: "The east and north of France have been hit by severe storms.
Several communes in the Pas-de-Calais have been hit by a tornado that has caused significant damage.
Violent storms on the Somme
(river in northern France, editor's note)
.” He also promised solidarity with those affected.
Between Le Havre, an important port city on the English Channel, and France's capital Paris, around 2,900 households in various places were without electricity because of the storm.
This was announced by the prefecture of Eure.
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Just last week Crete experienced a "biblical catastrophe".
Storms caused chaos on the Greek holiday island and claimed two lives.
On Monday morning, however, the German Weather Service (DWD) warned of "strong thunderstorms" in Bavaria.
(ph/dpa)
