A violent and rare tornado crossed the Franco-Luxembourg border late Friday – packing gusts of up to 154 km/h and leaving at least seven people injured in Luxembourg, authorities said. There were no reports of injuries on the French side.
More than a dozen people were injured in Luxembourg, which took the brunt of the storm, while the French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle suffered mainly material damage – with emergency crews responding to 60 calls within an hour.
Une #tornade s'est produite sous un violent #orage en Meurthe-et-Moselle, à la frontière du #Luxembourg, vers 18h. Crédit vidéo : @John_Mac_Clane pic.twitter.com/qBbIsH9ELT
La Chaîne Météo (@lachainemeteo) August 9, 2019
In footage on social media, the storm can be seen twisting behind buildings, while images of the aftermath show fallen trees, damaged cars and debris strewn across the streets.
The town of Herserange, where the roofs of five houses were either completely or partially blown off, was particularly affected. Roof tiles and parts of chimneys flew off of some 30 other houses in the neighbourhood.
In Luxembourg, the towns of Petange and Kaerjeng, also near the Belgian border, suffered extensive damage, with the extreme weather hitting as far north as Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.
MEURTHE-ET-MOSELLE Vend 9 Août 2019Violente tornade peu avant 18h_graves dégâts matériels avant de se diriger vers LUXEMBOURGPas de blessés du côté françaisTrentaine maisons détériorées Longwy, Herserange, Pétange et BascharageRafales vent 128km/hhttps://t.co/Ipcdh2ltga pic.twitter.com/6FH80ZGDAO
TRAN THI TRINH Maguy (@MaguyTran) August 10, 2019
