Havoc in Hummuli: tornado tears roof off apartment building

Photo: Kunnar Rüsülainen

A three-storey block of flats roofless, cars battered, antennae plucked off buildings, tarred felt in heaps on lawns, windows gaping glassless, trees scattered around, people deeply troubled – describing Saturday night in the small town Hummuli, attacked by a tornado.

«Mommy, come home quick! We’re having a catastrophe,» the daughter Aime Aas told her over the phone, the lady being in Valga. «I came home, was shocked,» said Aime Aas. «Exited the car, started to tremble all over. Being elder of the house, I went around the house, checking the damage… somebody’s bedroom window broken, eight chimney tops gone. Goodness gracious!»

«The girl said it was so much noise and rumbling. She was in her room. Coming out, there was wind and hail coming in through the window frame cracks,» Ms Aas related.

Samuel Starke (16), a dweller in the now roofless house, saw the tornado in action. «First, it was raining. All was OK, but the tree tops were bent over. Then the wind suddenly sped up and all of a sudden, in two-three seconds, the entire roof was off the house,» Mr Starke said of the destruction. «I saw the tornado, it was quite a whirl… Visibility 3-4 metres, at best.»

Mr Starke was unafraid, rather he felt excited – like in a movie. «But then, I’m so sorry at what happened. The winds beat furious, the hail came in big pieces,» he said. «It all happened so fast in 4-5 seconds, not more. The cars had windows smashed, bits of eternit scattered everywhere. Never saw a storm like that,» added Mr Starke, according to whom the folks at the upper floor are not totally in open air – however, the roof not being there any more, ceilings drip with rainwater.

Ljudmilla Ilves watched the storm from her window. «Windows were flying off the houses, all of a sudden there were fierce winds on the inside. I’m 61 and I have never seen a storm like that in my life. A big tree was plucked out by the roots. During the day, we had a sensation here – they started to demolish a house and the men were having real trouble. But here – the wind does it in a couple of seconds,» said Ms Ilves.

According to rescue service official on duty, Marek Käst, no-one was hurt - luckily. A rescue team from Tõrva was also summoned. «We received a call: trees were hindering traffic, a house had lost its roof,» said Mr Käst.