Texas town rains fish, locals amused

A rain of fish measuring up to six inches in length recently fell on the people of Texarkana, Texas, United States. This would be a rare phenomenon but perfectly explainable from a scientific point of view. It is also likely to concern frogs, snakes or even birds, reports West France. The rain would have lasted only a few minutes.

On its Facebook account, Texarkana invited residents to send their photos and testimonials. “It happens when small aquatic animals like frogs, crabs or fish are sucked in by downpours or tornadoes,” the US city said. They then fall at the same time as the rain, with the bad weather ”.

India, Serbia, Australia, United Kingdom …

According to National Geographic, the rains of fish have already occurred in India, Serbia, Australia but also in Japan for the past 25 years. Whirlpools formed there that could suck up “water, stones and small domestic animals” or objects.

This is particularly the case “of the small debris picked up by these mini-tornadoes and transported for several kilometers before the clouds which hold them back split and let fall their strange cargo”, described the BBC in 2004. The Texans of Texarkana compete as for to them jokes on Facebook. One resident, for example, told of having collected fish as fishing bait.

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