at least three dead and twelve injured

A 13-year-old girl, a 72-year-old woman and a third person died Thursday in Corse-du-Sud, affected by violent storms, and 12 people were injured, including one in absolute emergency, said the prefecture of Corsica -du-Sud in a provisional assessment.

The 13-year-old girl died after a tree fell on her bungalow at Le Sagone campsite, a four-star establishment in the town of Sagone. The 72-year-old woman died on Liamone beach in Coggia, after the roof of a straw hut fell on her vehicle, the prefecture said.

Many interventions also took place at sea, in particular in Piana, Coggia, Cargèse and on the Ajaccian beach of Ricanto, also reported the prefecture. In addition, 45,000 customers are without power throughout the island, EDF Corse announced.

In a tweet, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, gave his support to the inhabitants of the island and announced that he would go there this afternoon.

Gust at 224 km/h

Corsica had been placed since the morning and until 11 a.m. in orange vigilance by Météo France, which had announced « strong thunderstorms in progress on the west coast with very strong gusts ». “An exceptional gust at 224 km/h has just been measured at the Marignana station (note: about thirty kilometers from Sagone) on an exposed part of the west coast” of the island, Météo France announced on its Twitter account at 8:30 a.m.

About twenty interventions

About twenty interventions were in progress on Thursday morning with many « roads cluttered with branches » and « a few rescues at sea of ​​boaters »in particular in Capo di Feno, on the outskirts of Ajaccio, Jean-Jacques Peraldi, the commander of the Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS) of Corse-du-Sud, told AFP.

Some premises were also flooded but according to Mr. Peraldi “Most of the wind has passed” and the situation was « stabilizing ». The episode mainly affected the north of the department, he also said.