Issued on: 18/08/2022 – 12:06
Fierce thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds hit the French island of Corsica on Thursday morning, killing five people and injuring a dozen others, local authorities said.
Following three days of intense rains, thunderstorms on Thursday killed five people, up from three earlier in the day, said the Corsican police.
Hail, heavy rain and winds measured as peaking at 224 km per hour (140 mph) swept across the French island as parts of the country – which has been hit by a series of heatwaves and severe drought – saw more rain in just a few hours than in recent months combined.
Those killed on Corsica, a major tourist destination, included a 13-year-old girl who died when a tree fell on the campsite where she was staying and a 72-year-old woman whose car was struck by a beach hut roof, authorities said.
Rescue operations were taking place along the western coast of Corsica to help several grounded and wrecked ships, the French maritime authority for the Mediterranean Sea tweeted.
The president of the Executive Council of Corsica, Gilles Simeoni, described a brief yet “extremely violent and entirely unpredictable” weather event that lasted “dozens of minutes”.
Simeoni told news broadcaster BFM TV that French President Emmanuel Macron phoned him to share “emotion” and “solidarity”.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin tweeted that he planned to go to the island later Thursday.
J’apporte tout mon soutien aux Corses qui ont fait face à de violents orages, avec des rafales de vent à plus de 200 km/h. On dénombre déjà trois personnes décédées et plusieurs blessées. D’importants moyens sont engagés. Je me rendrai sur place cet après-midi.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) August 18, 2022
Households without power on mainland
After a summer of drought, heatwaves and forest fires, violent storms have hit France and neighbouring countries in recent days.
On France’s mainland, grid operator Enedis said about 1,000 households were without power after a storm hit the southern Loire and Ain departéments (administrative units).
On Wednesday evening in Marseille, streets were flooded and streams of water ran down steps in the port city, videos shared on social media showed.
Farther north, drought has left the river Loire, famous for castles along its banks, so shallow that even flat-bottomed tourist barges can barely navigate it.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)