By Danilo Arnone
MARSALA, Italy, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Vehicles were overturned and two people seriously injured on Friday when a tornado swept through the Sicilian city of Marsala and neighbouring towns, in what experts said was an almost unprecedented event for the Mediterranean island.
The whirlwind caused panic among residents as it destroyed a house and damaged a school and other buildings in Marsala and nearby Petrosino and Mazara del Vallo.
"It was almost like an American tornado, nothing this violent has been seen in living memory," the head of Sicily's Civil Protection agency Salvatore Cocina told Reuters.
Early in September the agency issued a warning saying the sweltering summer had led to a buildup of heat that could trigger extreme weather events in autumn.
"It once again highlights the issue of extreme weather events, a characteristic of recent years due to the climate crisis," Cocina said.
Videos shown on local media showed a Marsala school with blown-out windows and a partially collapsed ceiling, while elsewhere in the town cars and trucks lay on their sides and power polls hit by the winds were strewn on the ground.
A couple caught in the tornado while driving were taken to hospital in a serious condition.
Sicily's regional president Renato Schifani promised to allocate special funds to address the emergency, and an alert for possible extreme weather events remained in place for Saturday, as rains and storms continue to affect the island.
(additional reporting by Antonio Cascio and Anna Uras, writing by Anna Uras, editing by Gavin Jones)
