Monday 4 August 2008

Tornado

A tornado has wreaked death and destruction in the French town of Hautmont, close to the Belgian border. On Sunday evening, the twister rampaged down the town's high street, demolishing hundreds of houses and killing three people; one of these committed suicide after his house was destroyed by the storm.

Sniffer dogs were brought in to search for survivors who might be buried underneath the rubble. The nearby towns of Maubeuge, Neuf-Mesnil and Boussieres-sur-Sambre were also affected, although the damage there was not as extensive as in Hautmont.

The tornado struck at around 11pm last night. Further pictures here.

7 comments:

  1. Awful  Guido and not that far away.  We can never beat the power of nature.

    http://journals.aol.co.uk/jeanno43/JeannettesJottings/

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  2. Oh my gosh!  Is that unusual for that area? Those poor people.   Alerts are back on~I haven't had any all weekend.  I'm not sure if I can catch up on journal reading or not.  I have company coming for dinner tonight and a garage sale to prepare for that starts Friday. Linda in Washington  

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  3. Just shows what damage the wind can wreck.. These poor people...many must have been in bed It's a wonder and blessing that many more were not killed.
    Your is he first alert I have had for two day...might hav eknoen your would get through lol.  Thanks for keeping us all up to date on the weather around our world. Love  sybil xx  PS these fishes look delicious  hope you enjoyed them x

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  4. I sat in this house through Rita, and a tornado is still scarier by far to me.  Of course with any tropical storm there are often many tornados spinning off.  I truly feel for these people.  -  Barbara

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  5. The weather is certainly strange isn't it, it's not the kind of thing you expect in France. My sympathy and condolences go out to those who suffered and lost loved ones. Jeannette xx  http://journals.aol.co.uk/jlocorriere05/Welcometomytravels/  

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  6. That was very sad!
    Lori

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  7. Such a sad loss of lives to a natural phenomenon

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