Sawt Falasteen - 'Wartime situation': tornado ravages French village

The tornado, which swept through the Aude department late Monday afternoon, hit the small village of Pomas hardest, bringing down walls, tearing off roofs, and uprooting trees.

Thirty-nine people were injured, including two severely, and 17 people were hospitalised.

Herve Gine, the mayor of Pomas, which is home to around a thousand people, said he had the feeling of living through "a wartime situation".

"We were bombed by nature," he said. "People are in shock," he said, adding that some "have lost everything".

"The nursery school is gone," he said. "We no longer have a school, we no longer have a town hall."

Gine said it was a "miracle" no one died, estimating there could have been several dozen fatalities.

The village's narrow streets testified to the tornado's violence, with debris everywhere, uprooted trees, roof tiles littering the ground, cars overturned, and homes left with shattered windows and torn-off shutters.

- 'Rare intensity' -

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on X the tornado was "of rare intensity", while Marie-Helene Bouissac, the regional deputy prefect, said it was "an exceptional and highly traumatic event".

Of the village's 476 homes, around 300 were damaged, said the mayor, adding the extent of the destruction was so severe that much of the village would have to be rebuilt.

By early Tuesday, 7,250 households across the Languedoc-Roussillon region were without power including 1,600 in Aude, said grid operator Enedis.

Under clear skies, roofs ripped apart by the storm had been covered with blue and green plastic tarpaulins, an AFP journalist saw.

Nearby fields and vineyards were littered with broken deckchairs, scraps of fibreglass insulation and pieces of wire fencing ripped apart by the fierce winds.

Emergency crews worked throughout the night while local residents tried to salvage what they could.

Firefighters, assisted by a canine search unit, searched the site for possible victims.

"Search and inspection operations are still under way, involving 75 firefighters supported by specialist reinforcement teams," the prefecture said.

- 'Kids are traumatised' -

Overnight, some locals were accommodated in the community hall, which had been converted into a temporary shelter. Others stayed with friends and relatives, officials said.

At a police checkpoint, relatives waited for permission to enter the affected area, bringing supplies or offering assistance.

Jose Gomes, a resident of the nearby village of Trebes, said a friend's house had collapsed.

"He was inside, he suffered a head injury and broke three or four ribs," he added. "He got out of hospital this morning."

Abdallah Wakkas, the grandfather of two cildren aged 13 and 17, said the teenagers were shaken.

"Nothing happened at their house, but the kids are a bit traumatised because their grandmother's roof was torn off," he said.

France sees several dozen tornadoes of varying intensity each year, according to weather agency Meteo-France.

This summer France has endured three heatwaves, registering a record 52 days of heat intensified by climate change. The intense weather conditions have sparked droughts, wildfires and a record number of rockfalls in the Alps.

The impact of global warming on the frequency and intensity of tornadoes is unclear, according to international scientists.

D.Qudsi--SF-PST