Italy: A storm with hail the size of a tennis ball and winds of 140 km/h left 110 injured

In a sudden wave of bad weather, strong Storm Its winds, which reached more than 140 kilometers per hour, reached Veneto in the northeastern region of ItalyIt caused massive damage, demolishing trees and roofs of buildings, and damaging cars. Local media reported that at least 110 people were injured by the hailstorm, which was the size of a tennis ball.

The region has declared a state of emergency due to the damage, Veneto regional leader Luca Zaia announced on Twitter. The politician said that the hail that fell was “absolutely out of the ordinary”, and that some stones were up to 10 centimeters in diameter.

A video posted by Zaia shows heavy rain with huge stones falling into the yard. He said that 110 people were injured from the cold and falling glass.

The greatest destruction occurred in Treviso, where firefighters responded to 350 calls in one night, but cities such as Venice, Vicenza, Verona and Padua were also affected by the phenomenon, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. The car described the scene of destruction as “trees broken like toothpicks” and “shingle roofs ripped off houses like old posters without the glue”.

La Repubblica reported that it was a “burst after explosion”, a meteorological phenomenon in which storm currents combined with the hot air present in the area and produced extremely violent rain. According to the newspaper, this phenomenon has spread in Europe due to shifts caused by climate change.

In Italy, on Tuesday, the 18th, thermometers in the capital pomegranate It reached 41.8 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record set last year, when the temperature exceeded 40 degrees Celsius on a single day in June. The heat wave hitting the region has led to an increase in emergency room visits due to dehydration and other heat-related problems.