World

Western Europe recovers from heavy storms

by Yuliya Talmazan | January 26, 2009 at 09:21 am

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South-Western France and Northern Spain are recovering from a severe storm that has ravaged local homes and infrastructure, claiming the lives of over 20 people, 4 of them children. Hundreds of thousands of people in both France and Spain were stranded without heat or power due to extensive power line damage caused by the storm. Some airport and railroad services had to be suspended until after the storm.

At least 20 people were killed in various incidents as the fiercest storm in a decade blew in from the Atlantic.

Torrential rains and winds of up to 184km/h (114mph) were reported.

Earlier, the mayor of a Spanish town near Barcelona declared three days of mourning for four children killed when a sports hall's roof collapsed.

A thousand workers from the French electricity grid operator, ERDF, are trying to restore power to around 800,000 homes that are still without power.

Meanwhile in Spain, the electricity network operator, Red Electrica de Espana (REE), said the winds had disrupted supply on 17 lines in the north of the country. Tens of thousands of people in Galicia and Catalonia are without power.

See previous weekend coverage done by NP member Uwe Paschen here.

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Nicolas DARQUÉ

at 13:34 on January 26th, 2009

Four deaths were caused by falling objects or trees felled by the wind that sometimes blew at over 180 km / h. Four other people died poisoned by carbon monoxide emitted by generators.
With 7 rainy days to come, the South West of France is now preparing for flooding.

Paul Grand

at 10:10 on January 26th, 2009

Sunday morning after the wind storm, this lovely poplar tree on the corner of St Aphrodise, central Beziers, South of France, was blown over onto a parked car..

Paul Grand has contributed a photo to this story.