2021 South Moravia Tornado

A rare, violent, and deadly long-tracked tornado struck several villages in the Hodonín and Břeclav districts of the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic in the evening of 24 June 2021, killing six people and injuring at least 200 others. The tornado struck seven municipalities, with the worst damage in the villages of Hrušky, Moravská Nová Ves, Mikulčice and Lužice.

This tornado was the strongest ever documented in modern Czech history and the deadliest European tornado since 2001. It was rated as an F4 on the Fujita scale. This made it the first confirmed violent (F4+) tornado in Europe since July 2015, when an F4 tornado struck the towns of Dolo and Mira in Italy. The tornado was part of a small outbreak of seven tornadoes that formed across Europe that day.

Path and impact

The tornado first touched down just east of Břeclav, initially causing little to no damage as it moved through open fields. It continued to the east-northeast towards Hrušky, and rapidly began to grow in size and intensity as it moved towards the town. The tornado then struck Hrušky directly, resulting in widespread, major structural damage throughout much of the small community. Numerous well-built brick homes were damaged or destroyed, and a school building and a church were also severely damaged. One third of the buildings in the Hrušky were destroyed, and 85% were damaged, with the most severe damage occurring in the southern half of town.

The large and violent tornado then intensified further as it continued to the northeast, reaching its point of peak intensity and producing devastating damage as it passed through the neighboring towns of Moravská Nová Ves and Mikulčice. Hundreds of houses, apartment buildings, churches, businesses, and warehouse buildings were severely damaged or destroyed along this segment of the path, including a few well-built brick and masonry homes that were completely leveled to the ground. The concrete exterior walls of structures that remained standing were scarred and impaled by flying projectiles. Debris was strewn long distances, cars were flipped and thrown, and dozens of trees were debarked and denuded along this segment of the path, including a few that were completely stripped clean of all bark. One car was found in an open field with its engine block torn out and missing, and a large metal shipping container was thrown into a gate and completely crushed. A pub and two boarding houses were destroyed in Moravská Nová Ves, and reinforced concrete roof and wall slabs were ripped from a large farm building along the outskirts of town and scattered across a field. Large farm implements were tossed and damaged, and a bus was also thrown into a house in Mikulčice, causing multiple serious injuries.

Continuing into Lužice, the tornado became narrower in visual appearance, but remained violent as it continued to produce a path of very intense damage. Multiple homes and apartment buildings were damaged or destroyed in the town, many vehicles were thrown and mangled, trees were debarked, metal-framed industrial buildings and factories were destroyed, streets were left covered with debris, and severed gas and electrical lines sparked multiple small fires in the wake of the tornado. Several vineyards in the Lužice area suffered extensive damage as well. The tornado proceeded to cut a path of major damage through neighboring Hodonín, impacting densely populated areas in the northern part of town. Numerous apartment buildings, office buildings, businesses, and houses sustained major structural damage or were destroyed. Several other buildings, including a retirement home, a sports complex, an arena, metal-framed warehouses, and structures at the Hodonín Zoo were also severely damaged or destroyed. The powerful tornado widened again and curved northward as it exited Hodonín and moved into a rural area, completely mowing down a large swath of trees as it impacted a patch of forest. Metal truss transmission towers were blown over in this area, farm fields were scoured, and several homes were destroyed in the small village of Pánov. The tornado continued past Pánov and moved through another densely forested area, flattening another wide swath of trees before abruptly dissipating near Ratíškovice. In all, a total of 1,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed by the tornado.

Aftermath

The tornado caused widespread power outages, with approximately 121,000 households left without electricity in the region. At least 115 buildings that did not completely collapse were scheduled for demolition. The D2 motorway linking Brno with Bratislava in Slovakia was closed. Rescue teams from across the country (including Prague) and also from neighboring Austria and Slovakia were deployed, as was the Czech Army. The total damage to public property has been so far estimated at 15+ billion CZK. Damages to privately owned properties are expected to be many times higher, but the exact numbers are still unknown.

Shortly after the tornado, workers started to fix homes that were not damaged beyond repair. Streets of impacted villages were filled with piles of debris and destroyed vehicles. The governor of South Moravia, Jan Grolich, stressed the need to clean them, and artificial landfills were made for cleaned up debris. Some of it will be used to aid house repairs.

A delegation of the Vietnamese Embassy and the Vietnamese Association in the Czech Republic visited several Vietnamese households to help support and comfort them. A fundraising campaign was launched by the delegation to aid those affected. More than 200,000 CZK (~$9,300) was raised in a day for essential goods. Over 30 Vietnamese families were affected, according to the association.

Hodonín-born entrepreneur and philanthropist Karel Komárek pledged an immediate donation of 150 million CZK to help the recovery effort. "I was born in Hodonín and this disaster has deeply affected me. We have to act quickly, which is why we immediately set aside funds to help with the recovery effort and to give people back their livelihoods," said Komárek after he announced his donation. He also said he would make more funds available, should the situation require it.

Ice hockey player Michal Kempný, a native of Hodonín, helped to rebuild his hometown after the tornado. The NCSML requested direct financial assistance to help impacted areas. The CEO, Dr. Cecilia Rokusek called the tornado the "most devastating storm ever in the country", and that assistance is "essential for preserving our rich history for the long term future".

Other tornadoes

This tornado was part of a small outbreak that affected Europe that day, which produced a total of seven tornadoes. In Poland, one person was injured by an F2 tornado that impacted the towns of Librantowa and Koniuszowa, damaging numerous structures, 15 of which had their roofs torn off. Numerous reports of damaging straight-line winds and large, destructive hail were received as well.

See also

* List of European tornadoes and tornado outbreaks

References

{{2021 tornado outbreaks

2021 meteorology
2021 disasters in the Czech Republic
2021 in the Czech Republic
June 2021 events in the Czech Republic
Natural disasters in the Czech Republic
South Moravian Region
Tornadoes in Europe
Tornadoes of 2021