the essentials Heavy storms mourned France on Thursday 18th August. On Thursday, five people died and 20 others were injured. Storms were also deadly in Italy and Austria today.
On the morning of Thursday August 18, Corsica was hit by very violent storms accompanied by gusts of wind that could reach more than 200 km/h in places. These caused the deaths of five people, victims mainly from fallen trees in campsites, and injured 20 others. A new stormy episode of importance is awaited tonight on the island of beauty, which is once again thrown into orange vigilance.
Bad weather was also deadly in Austria on Thursday. A storm killed five people, including two children, and left a dozen injured. The children, probably aged between five and eight, and the injured were near a small lake in Carinthia when several trees were uprooted by gusts of wind, said the regional spokeswoman for the Red Cross, Melanie Reiter. Austria is currently experiencing a heat wave and authorities have warned of thunderstorms.
Fragments of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice have fallen
In Italy, a storm in Tuscany killed two people, one in Carrara and one in Lucca, both victims of falling trees, according to local media. About fifty people were also injured. Several people were injured by falling trees at the seaside campsite Marina di Massa, while four others were taken to hospital in the medieval town of Barga after the car they were in was hit by a torn roof, according to the local news site Tuscany in Diretta.
A large part of the peninsula is affected by these storms: some fragments of the bell tower of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice fell on Thursday. Veneto, which also includes Venice, has declared a state of emergency, as has Tuscany. Milan, like Florence, decided to close public parks and gardens on Friday, asking residents not to park or walk under trees and to ensure nothing can fall on their balconies.