A tornado tore through the southwestern French village of Pomas on Monday afternoon, August 24, injuring 41 people, 15 of whom were taken to hospital, while damaging around 300 homes.


The tornado struck the municipality, which has about 1,000 residents, at around 5:20 p.m., according to the prefecture of the Aude department, cited by French media.


A prefecture update at 10:30 p.m. said: “41 people were treated and passed through the victim assembly point, including 15 people evacuated to a hospital.”


Among those injured was a pregnant woman whose house collapsed. Her husband told an AFP photographer that she was taken to hospital. The gendarmerie said she was buried when a wall collapsed but was protected by a sofa. The condition of her baby was not immediately known.



Two emergency shelters were opened overnight, at the Pomas community hall and in nearby Limoux.


About 300 homes were affected, with numerous roofs torn away and houses severely damaged. “Operations to secure buildings are underway, particularly on the ground floors of the most severely affected homes, in order to prevent any risk of collapse,” the prefecture said.


“Search operations are continuing in the municipality,” it said, while confirming that rescuers were not searching for anyone reported missing.


“At this time, more than 120 firefighters are on site, supported by specialists,” the prefecture said, adding that reinforcements from neighbouring departments were expected.


Météo-France had issued an orange thunderstorm warning for Aude and several other southwestern departments, citing the risk of locally severe weather. The warning for Aude was lifted at 7 p.m.


Several roads remained closed late Monday because of fallen trees and to allow emergency crews to operate. Around 2,800 households in 10 municipalities were without electricity at 7:30 p.m.


The storms also severely disrupted road, rail and air travel across southern France. Rail traffic was suspended between Narbonne and Sète.


The third stage of the Vuelta a España, which began in Gruissan, Aude, was cancelled after a hailstorm forced riders to shelter less than 20 kilometres from the finish at Font-Romeu in neighbouring Pyrénées-Orientales.


France records several dozen tornadoes of varying intensity each year, according to Météo-France, which says the effects of climate change on their frequency, intensity and geographic distribution remain uncertain.


By Tamilla Hasanova