Tornado Sweeps through Northern Villages in Italy, 13 Injured

Unlucky residents of a Northern Italian village are hit by a tornado just a year after a deadly earthquake. The tornado destroyed offices, roofs, and caravans that had just been rebuilt. Hundreds of buildings were damaged and 13 people were injured.

The tornado lasted about an hour and brought with it tennis ball-sized hail stones to the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. The village of San Martino Spino was shaken last May by an earthquake that left 26 dead and 45,000 homeless.

This May, flying debris and hailstones led to 119 homes destroyed. Major Maino Benatti said it was "a miracle" no one was killed.

Surrounding villages were also affected.  Amateur video posted on YouReporter, a website for citizen journalists, shows the tornado directly over the small village of Bentivoglio.

Many farmers in this village, located near Bologna, were out on their land and caught in the twister. Sandro Roversi took shelter under his tractor. "I couldn't move, it came so quickly, I was inside. I threw myself underneath, and I was OK. It was an enormous force, enormous," he said.

Regional authorities have requested the Italian government to declare a state of emergency. Italy's agricultural watchdog Coldiretti warned of the loss of millions of euros due to the damage to farms and crops.