Tornado rips off roofs, damages cars

A tornado hit a village in central Greece yesterday, uprooting trees, tearing off roofs from houses and felling power poles, according to authorities. There were no reports of injuries. The tornado struck the village of Zevgaraki, close to Agrinion, at around 10 a.m. and lasted for about 10 minutes. More than 30 homes were damaged with a number of them left standing without a roof, while trees and branches were flung onto roads. Authorities said six cars were damaged by the trees and branches hurled about by the tornado, which is not a common occurence in the country. One press report said that trucks were shifted a number of meters by the strong winds. Local prefecture officials, police and fire fighters started to clear up the roads and record the damage.