These amazing images show the moment when a giant water tornado, technically known as a waterspout, hits the coast of Italy. The series of shots taken by a Russian tourist, Evgeny Drokov, who was vacationing with his family, show the stormy skies over Genoa, Italy, with the massive twister hitting the water and sweeping over the sea.
Tornadic waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water or move from land to water. They have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning.
Dark, blustery clouds can be seen filling the skies over Genoa as the twister hits the ocean, with dramatic flashes of lightening and rumbles of thunder taking place in the background. As the tornado moves closer to the coastal town, it grows in size and power.
Drokov was on his hotel balcony, just a mile and a quarter away when he snapped the photos. "I've never seen anything like this before! It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," he said. "It was our last morning of family vacation in Genoa before driving back home. We had been packing the bags, and then the show began!
"We could see it so well because the apartment house is located on the heel at a distance - there wasn't much rain at the time, it was pure luck."
Firefighters were called out to help villagers stuck in flooded basements, shops, and broken elevators as the rainfall reached over two inches in just three hours. The fearsome twisters, although weaker than land tornadoes, can often demolish anything in their path.
Tornadic waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water or move from land to water. They have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning.
Dark, blustery clouds can be seen filling the skies over Genoa as the twister hits the ocean, with dramatic flashes of lightening and rumbles of thunder taking place in the background. As the tornado moves closer to the coastal town, it grows in size and power.
Drokov was on his hotel balcony, just a mile and a quarter away when he snapped the photos. "I've never seen anything like this before! It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," he said. "It was our last morning of family vacation in Genoa before driving back home. We had been packing the bags, and then the show began!
"We could see it so well because the apartment house is located on the heel at a distance - there wasn't much rain at the time, it was pure luck."
Firefighters were called out to help villagers stuck in flooded basements, shops, and broken elevators as the rainfall reached over two inches in just three hours. The fearsome twisters, although weaker than land tornadoes, can often demolish anything in their path.