Emergency services across northern Europe counted the cost on Friday of a devastating storm that killed at least 38 people and left widespread damage and disruption.
Winds of up to 200kph swept off the Atlantic and cut a path across Britain, northern France, The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
Rescue helicopters saved the 26 crew of a container ship that started to sink in the Channel and German rail services were halted for the first time ever. Air travel across the continent was disrupted with hundreds of flights cancelled.
The hurricane-force winds ripped roofs off houses and toppled trees and electricity pylons. Hundreds of thousands of homes across Europe lost power.
Twelve people were killed in storm-related incidents in Britain, at least 10 in Germany, five in The Netherlands, four in Poland, three in the Czech Republic, two in Belgium and two in France. Children were among those killed by falling debris or in traffic accidents.
In Germany, gusts of up to 200kph were recorded.
British meteorologists said the “severe gale force” was the strongest recorded since another major storm in January 1990.
Falling trees and pylons claimed the lives of six motorists in Britain, including the managing director of central England’s Birmingham airport, killed when a branch fell on his car as he was driving to work.
A two-year-old boy, Saurav Ghai, was killed when a brick wall fell on top of him in north London. Several truck drivers also fell victim to the storms, including a German who died when his vehicle overturned in north-west England.
Winds eased on Friday but there was still disruption at London’s Heathrow and other British airports. British Airways cancelled more than 130 domestic flights on Thursday.
The cross-Channel port of Dover reopened late on Thursday and Eurostar high-speed train services from London to Paris and Brussels predicted operations would return to normal on Friday, after having been suspended on Thursday.
In Germany, an 18-month-old baby died after being crushed by a door that was ripped off its hinges by high winds in Munich. A 73-year-old man was killed in Augsburg after a barn door fell on him.
Four people, including two firemen, died in North Rhine-Westphalia state when they were hit by trees.
For the first time in its history, Deutsche Bahn railway company suspended all services across Germany on Thursday as a precautionary measure after high winds blew trees on to the tracks. In Berlin, a two-ton steel girder fell more than 40m at the city’s main rail station.
More than 200 flights in and out of Frankfurt airport were cancelled because of the winds, authorities said.
Freak accidents occurred across the storm’s path. In the southern Dutch town of Riel an 11-year-old boy died after he was hit by a car, whose driver said the child was blown into the car by a sudden gust.
The Red Cross set up temporary shelters for about 5Â 000 commuters who were stranded after The Netherlands shut down all rail traffic.
Power companies reported widespread chaos.
About 100Â 000 homes in northern France, 20Â 000 households in Austria and more than 30Â 000 households across north-east England lost electricity — nearly all because falling trees downed power lines. Cuts were also reported in The Netherlands and Germany.
In the Channel, 26 crew who abandoned their sinking freighter were airlifted to safety in a daring joint French-British operation launched in 9m-high waves.
The French coastguard said all the men who had been huddling in a lifeboat had been winched on board British Sea King helicopters.
The British-registered ship, the MS Napoli, developed three cracks and on Friday was under tow while British and French authorities decided which port it should be taken to.
French coastguard officials said the ship was carrying hundreds of tons of “dangerous” cargo including explosives and unspecified toxins, and a 5km slick of oil pollution had been detected behind the vessel.
Experts cautioned against making an automatic link between the storm and concerns over global warming.
“Not everything that is a little bit out of the ordinary on the surface of the planet can be systematically linked to climatic change,” said David Salas Y Melia, a researcher at Meteo France, the French weather forecaster. — AFP