A tornado tore through the village of Pomas in south‑west France on Saturday, injuring 39 people and devastating a half‑share of the town's homes. Authorities reported that 15 people were taken to hospital and that two were in critical condition, including a pregnant woman whose house collapsed.
Wind gusts reached 117 km/h, ripping roofs from houses and damaging an estimated 300 homes in the village. Emergency crews were called in from as far as Carcassonne to aid the 120 casualties and to clear debris.
Resident Pierre described the tornado as a “huge red and yellow chimney” swirling over the village, causing even ancient stone castles to partially collapse.
In the nearby Aude area, the third stage of the Vuelta a España cycling race was cancelled after a hailstorm forced riders to shelter 15 km from the finish line. The hailstorm also left about 2,800 homes across ten villages without electricity.
French authorities had issued an orange alert for thunderstorms across the south‑west, a warning that comes amid a summer of unprecedented heatwaves and widespread forest fires that have scorched 42,000 hectares of land.
Flight disruptions were reported at Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse, and northern Paris due to the extreme weather. The national weather service Météo‑France notes that France experiences several dozen tornadoes per year, but this recent event stands out for its intensity and damage.
Collected images from the scene show uprooted trees, damaged cars, and rubble from destroyed homes, illustrating the scale of the storm.
