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TORNADO hits Marbella: Trees are uprooted and tables are sent ‘flying through the air’ as ‘terrifying’ freak weather smashes the resort town
- A tornado has torn through Marbella, Spain, leaving a path of destruction
- One person was injured as the freak weather phenomenon caused chaos
- Residents and holidaymakers in the coastal resort town were left terrified
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A tornado transformed the sun-kissed Costa del Sol resort of Marbella yesterday.
The freak weather phenomenon left one person injured, trees uprooted and motorbikes on the ground as it came in from the sea and struck the town centre.
Bar owners in the path of the windstorm watched on in horror as tables and chairs began to fly through the air.
Kiosk owner Marcela Romero said: ‘It was terrifying. I saw several trees come down in a question of seconds and I thought I was going to be lifted off my feet.
The tornado tore through the coastal resort town of Marbella, Spain, leaving a path of destruction yesterday, December 5
‘It didn’t last more than a minute but that minute was awful because everything moved.’
British holidaymaker Ryan Davis, currently on a golfing trip to the area with friends, added: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it before.
‘It began tipping it down with rain and then all of a sudden the wind came from nowhere.
‘Things were flying through the air. I took shelter inside the nearest place that was open because I was worried I was going to be hit by something.’
The clean-up was continuing this morning/yesterday morning (TUE) following the tornado scare, which occurred around 4.30pm.
Marbella Town Hall said it had mobilised around 100 people and 30 vehicles ‘to restore normality.’
An initial evaluation of the damage caused by the tornado has put the number of trees affected at more than 40, with several coming down on cars parked in the street. Pictured December 5
The freak weather phenomenon left trees uprooted, cars smashed, and motorbikes on the ground as it came in from the sea and struck the town centre.
The tornado ripped through the Spanish resort town yesterday, wind speeds of between 73 and 112mph
One of the worst affected areas was the Costa del Sol Hospital just outside the town centre, where a worker needed medical treatment after suffering a head wound.
Jesus Riesco, director of the Malaga centre of weather agency Aemet, said the tornado could have reached F1 intensity, which is categorised as a moderate tornado with wind speeds of between 73 and 112mph.
He said: ‘It’s a phenomenon that’s impossible to predict,’ adding: ‘They frequently occur in uninhabited areas or out at sea and often go undetected.
‘The difference on this occasion was that it touched land in Marbella.
An initial evaluation of the damage caused has put the number of trees affected at more than 40.
Several came down on cars parked in the street.
Rain is predicted for most of the next week in Costa del Sol resorts like Marbella.
The change in the weather, following months of sun and blue skies, is being welcomed by locals and expats because of drought concerns.