The village of Bihucourt, in northern France, lies in ruins tonight. A violent tornado ripped through the community Sunday evening, tearing roofs from homes, uprooting century-old trees, and leaving at least 15 people injured as residents scrambled for cover.
The storm struck with little warning. By the time the winds subsided, emergency crews were navigating a landscape of splintered timber and shattered glass. Local officials confirmed that nearly 150 homes sustained significant damage, with dozens rendered uninhabitable.
“It sounded like a freight train passing through the kitchen,” said Marc Lefebvre, a local resident whose home lost its entire upper floor. “We didn’t have time to get to the cellar. We just huddled under the stairs and prayed the walls would hold.”
Emergency responders, including 60 firefighters and specialized search-and-rescue teams, spent the night combing through the debris. While most injuries are described as minor—mostly cuts from flying glass and blunt force trauma—two individuals remain in the hospital under observation.
The scale of the destruction caught weather experts off guard. While France frequently experiences severe thunderstorms, tornadoes of this intensity remain rare. Météo-France had issued an orange alert for the region earlier in the day, but the specific path and ferocity of this twister exceeded initial projections.
Power lines remain down across the sector, plunging the village into darkness. Prefectural authorities have set up an emergency shelter at a nearby community center for families displaced by the storm, though many residents are opting to stay with neighbors or guard what remains of their property.
Recovery will be a long process. Insurance adjusters are expected to arrive Tuesday, but for the people of Bihucourt, the immediate focus is clearing the debris-strewn streets before the next front arrives.
“The village looks like it was bombed,” said the local mayor, surveying the wreckage of the town hall. “We can rebuild the houses, but it will take a long time to fix the sense of security we lost in those few minutes.”
