The devastating natural spectacles lasted only a few minutes and caused considerable damage: the day before yesterday, a waterspout hit the coastal town of Salerno on the Italian Amalfi Coast, and the next day it hit the yacht marina off Marmaris in Turkey. "Both phenomena are due to the still unusually high water temperatures in the Mediterranean and the very active low-pressure systems that are currently moving through there," explained YACHT meteorologist Dr Michael Sachweh; a large temperature difference between the water surface and the higher atmosphere is a prerequisite for the formation of waterspouts. This is currently still the case despite various storms, especially in Italy.
If you are hit by such a mini-tornado, the consequences can be considerable, as wind speeds of hurricane force are possible in the immediate vicinity. The operators of the yacht marina in Marmaris also experienced this. In the few minutes that the tornado hit the marina, several yachts in winter storage fell off their steel storage racks and toppled over. One jetty was even lifted and damaged by the storm and some yacht rigs broke.
However, the marina reacted promptly: just one day later, all the overturned yachts were back in the storage rack, all the damaged yachts that were in the water were craned and put ashore. The damage is now being assessed and repaired.
No damage has yet been reported from Salerno in Italy; the waterspout touched land shortly before the marina and weakened somewhat as a result.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
