It’s hard to believe that a tornado hit Lefkimi, our Greek village. Add that to a hurricane and you can imagine what it was like.
No. You couldn’t unless you were there. Take a look at the photos, that apparently no Greek news station thought our village was important enough to report on.

Lefkimi is one of the largest villages on the Island and yet only half was hit. Melikia and Potami. I live in Melikia.

We weren’t at home at the time. We were outside, driving right into it.

11th November is my eldest daughter’s birthday. We were dressed up and ready to go out and eat. It was raining and it was windy. Lightning had been flashing for a while. For some reason, my husband wanted to drive the back way of the village,  missing out the cafes and shops. The road was alongside a canal (Potami) we saw the water has risen very high. We passed a man with a torch checking out his boat. The further down we drove, the worse the weather was becoming. It got so bad I asked my husband who was driving, can you see anything out of the windscreen because I can’t.
It was too late to stop and we couldn’t see anything in front or behind. The rain and wind were so fast and heavy that I couldn’t see anything outside. Then we had leaves and branches hitting the screen and the top of the car. We thought it was hail stones. Alexia, my youngest already had a fear of thunder and storms, so she was shaking and crying. We made it to the end of the road and onto the main road, which would take us down to where we were eating. We saw a row of lights ahead and my eldest daughter said it was the Cube, a coffee place we go to often. As we coming up to Cube, we couldn’t see ahead, on the opposite side of the road, or what was behind, so my husband turned into the carpark and we stayed there until it looked safe to move again.
In that time we watched the wind knocking over huge plants, ripping the flags off, tipping over a motorbike and then the electric went off inside and my youngest was crying and shaking again. My eldest daughter was cuddling with her in the back seat. It was a scary time. The rain stopped and the wind abated and so we continued our journey.  You have to understand we thought we were in a bad storm and it was over. It wasn’t until we were driving on the main road and saw a tree down and then another that totally blocked our side of the road, that we suspected a tornado. My husband said exactly what I was thinking, what if we had kept going and hadn’t stopped at the Cube?
We continued and arrived at the taverna where we ordered our meal. I was in the toilets with my youngest when my husband came in and said, he had just received a call from his dad, the tornado hit Melikia and there were damages. We took the food to go and rushed back to the house.

Now, this next video is chilling. It demonstrated how close we were and how lucky we are to be safe, together and unhurt.

I have to hand it to the Corfu island fire department and electricity board. My husband pulled over and phoned them as soon as we saw the fallen trees and they were there dealing with it when we came back from the taverna.  We were without power and water for less than 24hours. From the amount of firetrucks, cranes and vans from the Electric company, around our area, I assume they came from town.

It’s now 10pm on Sunday evening 12th November. I have no idea what the official cause is apart from a tornado and hurricane. I haven’t heard of any casualties inside the village.

Sadly, there was a death near Santa Barbara of a Greek man whose car fell into a river. His family managed to get out safely but his foot got stuck in the steering wheel and he died.
This information was given to me second hand, so if I learn more of the official facts I will update this piece.

We are on half power now and it may be off again tomorrow as they continue work. Apparently, we could be having the same freak weather on Tuesday.  I don’t think Alexia will get over this experience. She jumps every time the light flickers. We’ve been trying to instil in her that rain, wind and thunderstorms are harmless. She had such a fear of them before, now it seems it was warranted.

In conclusion, Mother Nature is a bitch and can suck rotten eggs!

©2017KarinaKantas
If anyone wished to use photos or video, please credit Author Karina Kantas.