A 1-year-old child died in Spain after being hit by a four-inch hailstone the size of an orange, according to a local official on Wednesday. The toddler was hit in the head in the Catalan region of Girona on Tuesday and was brought to the hospital.
Toddler Dies After Getting Struck By A Massive Hailstone
By
Editorial Staff in
Nature
On 1st September 2022
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A toddler died tragically after being struck by a massive hailstone during a strong storm in Spain. The youngster, who was just 20 months old, was one of 30 persons injured as a result of direct strikes from hailstones as large as four inches in diameter.
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The terrifying storm hit the Catalan town of La Bisbal de l'Emporda yesterday (30 August).
The toddler was brought to Girona's Josep Trueta Hospital yesterday afternoon, but she died just hours later. The child's nationality is yet unknown
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A woman stayed in the same hospital today (August 31) due to severe injuries sustained in the hailstorm.
According to reports, the majority of the other 28 people requiring medical attention suffered head injuries, ice cuts that required stitches, and even fractured bones. In addition to the severe human impact, the four-inch-long hailstones damaged the town itself.
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Tennis ball-sized stones dented and destroyed cars and glass. Catalan weather officials confirmed that the hailstones were the biggest the town had witnessed in almost twenty years. The deadliest hailstorm in recorded history struck the Indian city of Moradabad in 1888.
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After being pummelling by orange-sized hail, the natural calamity killed approximately 250 people. The largest hailstone ever recorded fell in Vivian, South Dakota in 2010.
The South Dakota hailstones weighed roughly 878 grammes and measured nearly eight inches in diameter, making them double the size of the hailstones from yesterday's Spanish storm.
Earlier this month, officials issued a warning to travellers travelling to Spain, warning them of the potential of being caught up in the uncommon Mediterranean hurricanes. Experts have dubbed these tropical-like cyclones "medicanes."
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According to experts, the risk of such medicines has increased dramatically as a result of this year's record heat waves and the steep rise in water temperatures caused by global warming.
"Higher Mediterranean temperatures provide a higher source of energy for medicanes and intensify their destructivity," said Yurima Celdran, a marine sciences graduate with a master's degree in meteorology.
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"Sea temperatures this autumn are expected to be higher than normal and if the necessary atmosphere conditions are in place, it would not be unreasonable to think the Mediterranean could harbor a medicane this year."