Residents of Pomass near Carcassonne woke to widespread destruction after the tornado of 'rare intensity' hit yesterday, as ITV News' Ellie Pitt reports
Around 300 homes have been damaged and dozens of people injured following a powerful tornado in southern France.
Hundreds of residents were forced to leave their homes as a tornado tore through Pomas, a commune in the foothills of the Pyrenees on Monday evening.
Vehicles and homes were battered, and at least 30 people were injured, two critically. Around 15 people were taken to hospital, including a pregnant woman whose house collapsed.
More than 120 emergency workers attended the scene, and two emergency accommodation centres opened to residents on Monday night in Pomas and in Limoux.
Trees fell, windows were smashed, and roofs were blown off houses as columns of wind were seen spiralling in the sky at an estimated speed of 73mph.
An orange thunderstorm warning was issued by the French weather service Météo-France, affecting 20 areas, with a risk of heavy rain, strong wind and hail.
As of Monday night, around 2,800 households in about ten communes in Aude were left without electricity, and several roads were closed due to fallen trees.
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On Tuesday, emergency services began efforts to clear the rubble and assess the damage from the dangerous weather event.
Resident Laurence Cucchiarini returned home to find walls destroyed and debris everywhere.
She said: “That was my home. The walls came down, everything’s been destroyed.
"Right now, we haven’t really taken it in yet. But we’re alive, my cat’s alive, and luckily no one was inside the house. What can you do? We’ll just have to pick ourselves back up.”
Another man said he "felt like we were at war" as he took cover from "huge gusts" and crashing roof tiles.
He recalled: “We were lying under the table; there was nothing else we could do. And I’m actually the cook at the restaurant you can see over there. Well, there’s no restaurant left now! The grocery store is gone too. It’s a real disaster.”
Hélène Sandragne, president of the Aude departmental council, visited the scene on Tuesday.
In a statement on Facebook, the authority said this is a "situation of extreme urgency", and they were working with housing agencies to provide temporary accommodation to those affected.
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