A tornado, which struck the town of Mollet del Vallés at 9.30am this morning and lasted for ten minutes, caused substantial material damage although nobody was injured.
According to a regional fire service spokesman, the tornado affected the towns of Montcada i Reixac, La Llagosta, Mollet del Vallés and Santa Perpétua de Mogoda, although Mollet del Vallés was worst hit as the tornado went straight through the town centre.
Rubbish containers were picked up and hurled through the air, trees were uprooted, walls were knocked down, and windows were smashed.
Locals said they had never seen anything like it, except on TV. Several buildings had their roofs blown off, and gas mains ruptured near the Regional Police station.
Fallen trees forced the closure of the BV5001 through Montcada i Reixac, and the C-33 and A-7 were also partially blocked.
Elsewhere in the province, heavy rain overnight flooded around a dozen underground garages as well as a number of ground floor properties in the Maresme area.
Tornadoes force cancellation of 42 Barcelona flights Thursday, September 8, 2005
42 flights had to be cancelled and 13 others diverted yesterday evening as two tornadoes swept across the runway of Barcelona's El Prat airport. Normal service has been re-established this morning, and the extent of the damage done to airport hangars is being assessed.
The tornadoes hit at around 8pm shortly after a violent electrical storm hit the area. Several cars and two planes parked on the runway were blown over by the force of the wind, but nobody was injured.
The storm caused extensive flooding and disrupted travel across the province. In Barcelona city centre a landslide left a large crater at the junction of the calle Felipe II and the Avenida Meridiana, where work is underway to extend the la Sagrera metro station.
A second landslide between the towns of Piera and Vallbona continues to disrupt train services on the Martorell-Igualada local line this morning, and it has not been confirmed when the line will reopen although an alternative bus service has been set up to ferry passengers between the two stations affected.
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