Tornado kills up to 40 000 chickens and damages Kalpaki military camp near Ioannina, Greece
A powerful tornado ripped through Kalpaki near Ioannina in northwestern Greece late Wednesday, January 7, 2026, killing about 30 000 chickens and damaging military buildings nearby.
Credit: Michael Marz (stock photo)
A damaging tornado struck the Kalpaki area near Ioannina in northwestern Greece late Wednesday, January 7, destroying a poultry farm, damaging military facilities, and uprooting dozens of trees, local authorities said.
Kalpaki Mayor Kostas Kapsalis told the state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency that the twister flattened a poultry farm with about 30 000 chickens.
Meanwhile, some local media reports estimate up to 40 000 chicken’s being killed; however, authorities have not verified this number. Strong winds tore the roofs off three buildings before the walls collapsed, killing the birds inside.
The tornado also caused damage at the nearby Kalpaki military camp, which is in the process of being shut down. Multiple personnel were transferred to a different location for safety reasons.
Officials said the storm damaged a church inside the grounds of the camp, along with perimeter walls and guard posts. The small number of soldiers stationed there was transferred to the city of Ioannina as a precaution.
Meanwhile, heavy snow continues in the mountainous areas of Ioannina. Since early Friday morning, snow removal machines and salt shakers have been on the provincial network of Metsovo, Milia, and Eastern Zagori in order to keep the roads open and safe.
I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
Just an observation from the video, the “tornado” was strong enough to rip roofs and knock down walls, killing the chickens inside….and shows roof sheets mashed up and concrete walls laying down, but the chickens are neatly laying down (expired) without any wall around them…..winds of this speed would have picked up the birds and thrown them over miles, feathers everywhere…..looks like something else may have happened, because those birds were either placed there, or died of something else.
I may be completely incorrect about this incident in Greece, but I’ve seen a touchdown tornado here in Canada that hit a poultry farm, and it rained feathers for hours afterwards and the birds were blown miles away, and hardly any in the farm yard site.