@MNTornadoGuy and myself have made previous posts about this tornado, but since most of the photos in them have been obliterated owing to dead links, might as well make another post. I'll try to include photos that haven't been posted here before.
On June 16, 1957, one of the most violent tornadoes ever recorded in Italy (and Europe in general) cut an approximately 10 km long path through the villages of Robecco Pavese, Vallescuropasso and Cigognola. Similar to the Elie, MB storm of 2007, the tornado appeared as a very long-stretched and narrow funnel, looking almost harmless from a distance. But the damage it left behind tells a very different story...
Photos of the tornado itself, starting with this one taken as the storm formed outside of Robecco Pavese:
Taken in Robecco Pavese:
The man who took this photo actually took at least two more, but unfortunately the scans of the other ones are no longer available.
Cigognola:
Now, on to the damage. People in Robecco Pavese saw the tornado approaching and scrambled for shelter. The village was hard hit, with more than half of the buildings there damaged or destroyed. Twenty homes were reported as completely leveled, and a few were even swept away. Sixteen people were trapped when the village church's walls collapsed, but fortunately they were all rescued. Several structures indicated F4 intensity per the ESWD's assessment, and per my own analysis one or two indicated F5 intensity. The contextual damage was also impressive as trees were mowed down and debarked, and vehicles were hurled and mangled.
Remains of a sturdy masonry home. In my opinion this is an IF5 DI, as all debris above the basement level has been swept away and deposited downwind:
An essentially pancaked Fiat Topolino:
This one with a debarked tree standing right in front of a comparatively untouched building reminds me of Guin:
Other shots from Robecco Pavese:
Remarkably, despite the devastation, there were no fatalities in Robecco Pavese. But this storm wasn't done...
Continuing on its SSE path, the next villages in line were Vallescuropasso and Cigognola. The tornado may have weakened slightly before it passed through these villages, but certainly still maintained violent intensity. The Guerei family in Cigognola took shelter as the storm beared down on them, but the tornado was just too strong. Their home was completely leveled, and the entire family of five - husband, wife and three children - were all killed. Multiple homes were also destroyed in Vallescuropasso, with two more fatalities occurring there.
All that remained of the Guerei family home:
Another shot from Cigognola:
By the time the storm's relatively short path concluded, multiple people were dead and 59+ injured.
There are some discrepancies with this tornado. The ESWD actually lists Robecco Pavese and Vallescuropasso/Cigognola as having been hit by two separate tornadoes, but the Tornado Archive and most Italian sources list one tornado. Also, reports of the death toll vary wildly and range from as low as five to as high as eleven. The ESWD has a death toll of six, but my analysis lists seven fatalities.
