A tornado of rare intensity devastated a village in southern France, causing widespread destruction and leaving residents in shock on Tuesday, with the mayor describing the aftermath as resembling "wartime". 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".
A total of 39 people were injured © Idriss Bigou-Gilles / AFP
"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.
