Valletta, Malta tornado

Valletta tornado

The Grand Harbour as it looked in the siege of 1565.
Formed September 23, 1551 or 1556
Casualties 600 fatalities (estimated)
Areas affected Grand Harbour, Malta

The Valletta tornado was a tornado that hit the Grand Harbour of Malta on September 23, 1551 or 1556 (sources conflict) with very intense strength. It began as a waterspout killing at least 600 people.[1] At least four of the Order's galleys, named Santa Fè, San Michele, San Filippo and San Claudio, capsized in the tornado.[2]

Despite the tornado's name, Valletta did not exist at the time, as the city's first stone was laid down on 28 March 1566, between ten and fifteen years after the tornado.

See also

References

  1. "British & European Tornado Extremes". The Tornado and storm Research Organisation. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  2. Abela, Joe. "Claude de la Sengle (1494 - 1557)". Senglea Local Council. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, December 29, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.