Dean Gill
EF0
Hey, that was my first tornado!
No, I didn't chase it as I was a 5 year old boy and was staying at my grandmother's place in Padua ( 30 km southwest of Venice).
The tornado passed at 200 meters from our home ripping off roofs. Further northeast, the tornado became much more powerful, destroying almost everything in its path and killing 35 people. The tornado entered the venetian lagoon and hit the extreme southeastern part of Venice, causing significant damage to the S. Elena neighbourhood. That was just after lifting and overturning a 22 tons boat which could contain 143 persons (a sort of large bus on water). 22 persons were killed in this boat. Then, the tornado left Venice and hit the northeastern part of the Lido where a small airport is located. The local anemograph recorded a wind speed exceeding 220 km/h which was the maximum the instrument could measure. As the time was 9:30 PM when the tornado entered the Laguna and we were in September (the 11th), it was already dark. However, intense lightning activity allowed many people to see the tornado.
From my location in La Guizza, on the southern suburbs of Padua, I don't recall actually seeing the tornado as it was hidden behind other buildings. What I remember vividly is being on the balcony and helping my Grandma to water her small lemon trees and oleanders. It was almost dark outside but I could perceive a constant lightning from right behind the buildings on the other side of our street. Then we heard a sound, like a distant howling. Then a sort of roar. At first, my Grandma said it was the sound of the train which runs from Padua to Abano. Usually, when you hear it clearly, it means bad weather is on the way. But of course that was not the sound of the train...
At one point, my Grandpa appeared on the kitchen door saying there was going to be a severe thunderstorm. He urged us to come inside otherwise he would lock us out! We hurriedly entered the kitchen, closed the window and pulled down the shutters. The light was still on in the kitchen and the noise coming from outside was really loud. Then the light went off and we were in complete darkness. I remember hearing my little sister crying in one the bedrooms. My Grandmother quickly lit a candle, took a small branch of olive tree that had been blessed on palm Sunday and burned it while saying a little prayer. In the region, people used to do that to protect themselves against severe storms.
The noise then quickly diminished and soon disappeared but we remained without electricity for the whole night.
The next morning when we opened the shutter, we saw our street was full of debris (branches, tiles, bricks) but the houses along our street were fine. 200 meters south of our location that wasn't the case. Most of the houses had their roof torn off. We quickly heard it was a tornado.
On the following afternoon, my grandfather took us for a ride with his car along the damaged path that stretched between Padua and Mestre. A few km northeast of La Guizza, there was a path of total destruction, but only 100 meters wide!
I was really impressed and intrigued by the power of this phenomenon. It's obvious to me that my fascination for tornadoes comes directly from this particular experience.
Nowadays, this region has become my second storm chasing territory after Tornado Alley, a sort of italian mini-Tornado Alley.
In July 2008, I eventually managed to catch my first italian tornado not far from the path of the 1970 killer tornado!
No, I didn't chase it as I was a 5 year old boy and was staying at my grandmother's place in Padua ( 30 km southwest of Venice).
The tornado passed at 200 meters from our home ripping off roofs. Further northeast, the tornado became much more powerful, destroying almost everything in its path and killing 35 people. The tornado entered the venetian lagoon and hit the extreme southeastern part of Venice, causing significant damage to the S. Elena neighbourhood. That was just after lifting and overturning a 22 tons boat which could contain 143 persons (a sort of large bus on water). 22 persons were killed in this boat. Then, the tornado left Venice and hit the northeastern part of the Lido where a small airport is located. The local anemograph recorded a wind speed exceeding 220 km/h which was the maximum the instrument could measure. As the time was 9:30 PM when the tornado entered the Laguna and we were in September (the 11th), it was already dark. However, intense lightning activity allowed many people to see the tornado.
From my location in La Guizza, on the southern suburbs of Padua, I don't recall actually seeing the tornado as it was hidden behind other buildings. What I remember vividly is being on the balcony and helping my Grandma to water her small lemon trees and oleanders. It was almost dark outside but I could perceive a constant lightning from right behind the buildings on the other side of our street. Then we heard a sound, like a distant howling. Then a sort of roar. At first, my Grandma said it was the sound of the train which runs from Padua to Abano. Usually, when you hear it clearly, it means bad weather is on the way. But of course that was not the sound of the train...
At one point, my Grandpa appeared on the kitchen door saying there was going to be a severe thunderstorm. He urged us to come inside otherwise he would lock us out! We hurriedly entered the kitchen, closed the window and pulled down the shutters. The light was still on in the kitchen and the noise coming from outside was really loud. Then the light went off and we were in complete darkness. I remember hearing my little sister crying in one the bedrooms. My Grandmother quickly lit a candle, took a small branch of olive tree that had been blessed on palm Sunday and burned it while saying a little prayer. In the region, people used to do that to protect themselves against severe storms.
The noise then quickly diminished and soon disappeared but we remained without electricity for the whole night.
The next morning when we opened the shutter, we saw our street was full of debris (branches, tiles, bricks) but the houses along our street were fine. 200 meters south of our location that wasn't the case. Most of the houses had their roof torn off. We quickly heard it was a tornado.
On the following afternoon, my grandfather took us for a ride with his car along the damaged path that stretched between Padua and Mestre. A few km northeast of La Guizza, there was a path of total destruction, but only 100 meters wide!
I was really impressed and intrigued by the power of this phenomenon. It's obvious to me that my fascination for tornadoes comes directly from this particular experience.
Nowadays, this region has become my second storm chasing territory after Tornado Alley, a sort of italian mini-Tornado Alley.
In July 2008, I eventually managed to catch my first italian tornado not far from the path of the 1970 killer tornado!
