84,490. This is the number of lightning recorded in France this Sunday, “including 20,429” lightning strikes, summarizes The Weather Channel. Storms that hit mainly in the west, causing some damage and unusual phenomena. Six departments had been placed on orange vigilance from Normandy to the Loire Valley
A “tuba” (in short: a tornado that does not touch the ground), was observed in particular in the town of Thury-Harcourt-le-Hom, south of Caen, in Calvados.
In Normandy, 5,000 homes were still without electricity on Monday morning, according to the electricity network manager Enedis. Storms accompanied by gusts of wind up to 110 km / h particularly shook Calvados and Eure.
According to Enedis, the most significant damage occurred in the Pays d’Auge, as well as in Pont-Audemer and Bernay.
In Troarn, east of Caen, a violent fire ravaged a building housing around forty children. Lightning struck a roof. There were no injuries but significant damage.
Heavy rainfall, accompanied by hailstorms, also affected Mayenne.
29 mm of rain fell in less than thirty minutes in the department this Sunday, causing mudslides.
This Monday, stormy rains were announced in the east of the country, as well as in the north of the Alps, before a return to calm.