...and it certainly blew over the weekend in eastern Sicily! Cyclone Athos liked Sicily so much that it stayed for over 48 hours, uprooting trees, blowing down road signs, destroying roofs and making the heck of a noise about it all. It was pretty scary, actually, and the worst weather I've known in seven years in Sicily.
As for the rain, well, it wasn't enough to stop a Cardiff girl going out and about as usual but I got splashed so many times by cars in the process that by Saturday evening I was considering starting a new life as a duck. "You can't walk home in this", said my hairdresser in the afternoon. "Why not? It's only a drop or two", said I, thus convincing him, if he needed further convincing, that I am going dotty in my old age.
The main problem here is not the amount of rain but the fact that houses are not built to withstand it so this was the scene in my bedroom by Saturday morning:
By this time Modica's mayor had ordered schools to remain closed - Saturday is a school day here - as had the mayors of several other towns. Power lines were down in the countryside, boat services to the smaller islands were suspended and the 19 crew members of a tanker which had run aground off Capo Santa Panagia [Siracusa] had to be airlifted to safety by coastguard.
And soon we'll all be grumbling about the heat....
5 comments:
That was quite a storm! Yes, I know what you mean. We'll soon be complaining about the heat too.
It certainly did although we had gale force winds here it was nothing like as bad as you were suffering in Sicily. I hope it has calmed down by now and that you have dried out Pat.
Glad that you made it okay, though a bit wet. We had such a strange winter in Toronto. Lots and lots of rain, but no snow at all. Great for old folks, but a bit eerie! Take care, when the heat comes.
Hi, Betty. It certainly was. Hi, LindyLouMac. Yes, dried out now, thanks. The sun came back today. Hi, Claude. That's unusual for where you are, isn't it?
We have such winds regularly here in the Pacific Northwest. But, our houses are built to withstand hurricane-force, 100mile winds for days on end. Yes, some trees do fall, and some outdoor furniture flies around, but we anticipate and take precautions. In Modica's case, it must have been terrifying for everyone.
Stay safe.
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