One of the worst hailstorms, ever, in Spain resulted in a nightmare: it killed a 20-month-old toddler.
Early last Tuesday, a freak storm hit Spain with hailstones larger than normal, some as large as a fist. Firefighters immediately responded to more than 40 emergency calls from injured or affected residents. People were hurt, tree branches were broken, and several properties were damaged.
One of the casualties was a toddler girl. According to reports, she was hit on the head with a four-inch hailstone, and was brought to the Josep Trueta Hospital in Girona.
Carme Vall, town mayor of Catalan town of La Bisbal d’Emporda, said, “There wasn’t much that could be done for her and she died today. It was a terrible accident.”
If a four-inch hailstone could inflict major damage on an adult, we can imagine how much more disastrous the impact on a tiny human being could be. The little girl breathed her last breath on August 31 due to head trauma.
Vall said that the crazy storm lasted for only 10 minutes, but it was “10 minutes of terror.”
Pere Aragones, Catalonia’s president, said that what happened was a “tragedy.” Because of the storm, violent alerts were issued by local officials in order to prepare residents for the weather, which threatened to affect coastal areas violently.
The meteorological agency, Meteocat, reported that the hailstones were the largest that they have recorded since 2002. Since the speed that hailstones travel depends on size, stones as big as four-inches could easily reach a speed of 72 mph. A man who filmed the storm was heard to say, “This is not normal, gentlemen. It is not normal. God is coming soon. Repent, because God loves you.”
Spain has been facing extreme weather, ranging from a hot summer and now a major hail storm. Local news reported that injured victims were brought to medical facilities due to broken bones, face cuts, and bruises.