A tornado killed at least one person and injured 10 more on 27 June in the Dutch coastal town of Zierikzee, in the southwest of the Netherlands.
The freak weather incident tore the roofs off of four houses and brought down the facades of one other property, according to local authorities in the province of Zeeland.
“Unfortunately, the tornado left one person dead and the first responders report about ten other people are injured,” a press release from the Zeeland local authorities said. Emergency services are still assessing the impact of the tornado.
In Europe, there are only around 700 tornadoes per year, which are usually small and unobtrusive. They most commonly occur in the summer months, from June through to August.
In the Netherlands, tornadoes occur one to three times per year. The last heavy tornado to cause significant damage was in 1967, when two people were killed and 10 injured at a campsite in Chaam, North Brabant.
Locals told several news publications that the tornado had turned the local area into a “war zone” and that it felt akin to having the room “vacuumed.”
“The damage is considerable in several streets of Zierikzee,” the local authorities note. “In addition to the tiles and fallen trees, the roofs of four houses have been torn off.” A manager of a local housing company states that 10 to 20 houses were now uninhabitable due to the damage.
According to local Dutch newspaper Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant (PZC), the victim of the tornado, a tourist visiting the area, was hit in the head with roof tile and instantly killed.
The emergency services are searching through the rubble for more victims.
