CYPRUS’ WEST coast was yesterday hit by a massive storm that wrought chaos in the region, felling trees and cutting power for up to seven hours. High winds and heavy rain fell for several hours on Thursday night and didn’t let up until mid Friday morning.
Tornados were sighted about three kilometres off the coast of Vardas beach, Paphos. Pete and Stacey Carabine were on the beach on Friday morning when they spotted the twister.
Pete Carabine, who lives in Paphos, said he had never seen anything like it before, adding, “You could see the water being sucked up into the sky.”
Reports suggest that Paphos was worst hit by the storm, with some of the Vardas beach hotels suffering extensive water damage. Liza Kemijee of the Paphos Fire Department said that three employees from the Corallia Hotel had suffered injuries, although none are said to be serious.
Due to the high winds and an electrical storm, British Airways had to divert all flights to and from Paphos airport to Larnaca. A spokesman from the airline said that they could not yet be sure if their Friday night flights would be able to take off form Paphos.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail,Kemijee said that the Fire Department received over 100 callouts relating to the storm, with the damage ranging from flooded houses, ripped up trees, landslides and power failure.
Kemijee said that not all of the calls had yet been followed up. “We have houses destroyed, but we are not yet sure of the extent of the damage,” she added.
Carol Watson, who lives in Paphos, described the extent of the damage. “The storm started at about 7pm on Thursday night and the power was out for about seven hours.
“The fields are full of water, there is debris on the roads and there are a few trees down on the road, but nothing too serious.”
Watson went on to say that the winds were so strong that it caused her house to shake.
Head of the Meteorological Services, Kyriacos Theofilou said Cyprus is “unfortunately feeling the impact of a low pressure system”, which will continue today and Sunday. He could not rule out more storm, which could extend to hail, in all regions across the island.
He added today and Sunday are certain to see some more bad weather with condition improving somewhat on Monday.
By Tuesday, Theofilou said the weather will be back to normal conditions for this time of year, with temperatures averaging 27 degrees.
??
??
??
??
