Overview
- Two waterspouts moved from the sea across Marsala on Friday, ripping roofs, overturning cars and heavily damaging the Alcide De Gasperi school while about 273 children were inside.
- Local hospitals and authorities report at least eleven people were treated for injuries, including six children and three adults from the school.
- Marsala’s mayor described scenes of devastation with destroyed houses and tossed vehicles, and several homes are now deemed uninhabitable.
- Firefighters, civil protection teams and regional rescue units carried out search, rescue and safety operations while the Marsala hospital activated an emergency plan and offered psychological support.
- Meteorologists and eyewitnesses say the two funnels formed under a single thunderstorm cell, a rare 'double' waterspout event that ilMeteo called possibly the strongest Sicilian tornado in decades and that could shape requests for state aid and rebuilding priorities.