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As announced Thursday, the French island of Corsica was hit by violent thunderstorms.
A heat wave is followed by severe storms: not only Switzerland, but also Spain, Italy and France are currently experiencing severe thunderstorms. On the French Mediterranean island of Corsica and in Tuscany, Italy, storms were so violent that eight people lost their lives.
In addition, there were a number of casualties in both areas due to violent storms, it reported Thursday. The storms also caused damage and flooding in other parts of France and Italy.
Gusts of more than 200 kilometers per hour
As the office in Corsica announced, there were also children among the six dead: a 13-year-old girl who was hit by a tree at a campground on the West Coast. A 72-year-old girl died on the beach when the roof of a beach hut fell on her car. A kayak driver was also found dead on the east coast and a dead fisherman on the west side of the island. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, 39, who was expected to arrive on the island in the evening, announced two more deaths.
According to Drmanin, 20 people were injured. This is a preliminary balance sheet. French President Emmanuel Macron (44) pledged support for the island and its residents. A crisis team was formed at Macron’s vacation place on the Cote d’Azur in the evening, with the participation of Prime Minister Elizabeth Born.
Gusts of speed of more than 200 kilometers per hour moved over Corsica. And 12 people were wounded in the south of the island. 45,000 homes without electricity. There were also storms and roads were flooded in other parts of France, such as Marseille.
Cars crashing into trees
As reported by several media, a man and a woman were injured by falling trees in Tuscany near Lucca and in the coastal town of Carrara. A severe weather warning was issued in the north of the country as far as southern Tyrol and large parts of central Italy. Some people were injured in violent storms exceeding 100 kilometers per hour and torrential rain, such as at a camping site in Marina di Massa, Tuscany, when trees fell there.
The regional president of Tuscany, Eugenio Gianni, 63, shared on Twitter a video from the coastal town of Piombino, where a ferris wheel was spinning in strong winds. Other pictures showed cars smashed into trees and beaches destroyed. In the northern coastal region of Liguria and in Tuscany, popular with vacationers, the fire brigade counted more than 150 operations in the afternoon.
A violent storm also swept through the lake city of Venice in northern Italy, bringing down awnings and tables in the streets. According to ANSA, sections of the wall cut off the steeple of the famous St. Mark’s Cathedral in the center. The Civil Defense also called up the crisis team at noon due to storms in central and northern Italy.
Four and eight-year-old girls killed in storms in Austria
Five people were killed in a severe storm in Austria on Thursday. As police and the Red Cross announced, several trees fell on Thursday in a small bathing lake in St Andhra, Carinthia. Two girls, aged four and eight, died and eleven people were injured, some seriously. To the north, three more people were killed by a tree in Gämming, Lower Austria.
According to the ZAMG State Meteorological Service, a gust speed of up to 139 km / h was measured in southern Austria. Due to gusts of wind, dozens of trees fell near Griffin on the Southern Highway (A2) in Carinthia. There was also a power outage in the tunnels.
It may take weeks to repair the damage
In Styria, tens of thousands of families were cut off from power because high voltage lines and 2,000 transformer stations were damaged. “In many cases, our colleagues have to cut their way into chainsaw repair work,” an Energie Steiermark spokesperson told ORF. It can take days, if not weeks, to repair all the damage.
In Styria, Carinthia and East Tyrol, all trains also stopped after power supplies to rail traffic failed due to the storm, the Austrian Federal Railways announced. An important transport link to Italy has been closed in several places for cleaning and repair work. (SDA/dzc)
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