A tornado tears through a village in southern France, injuring 39 and wrecking 300 homes

PARIS (AP) — A tornado ripped through a small village in southern France, damaging about 300 homes, destroying several cars and injuring dozens of people, authorities said Tuesday.

The tornado struck Pomas, a village of about 1,000 people, on Monday and rescue teams were continuing their search through ruins on Tuesday, though no people were immediately reported missing.

A total of 39 people were injured, including two in critical condition, said Marie-Hélène Bouissac, the deputy head of the local government office. Authorities opened emergency accommodation centers to house displaced residents.

In the broader Aude department, about 1,400 households were still without electricity on Tuesday morning, officials said.

The region was under a thunderstorm alert at the time of the tornado, with wind gusts exceeding 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour) recorded at a nearby meteorological station. The third stage of the Vuelta a Espana bike race, which was held in southern France on Monday, was halted because of hail.

According to Meteo France, the national weather agency, a few dozen tornadoes occur each year in mainland France, most of them of low intensity.

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