2023-11-02 22:36:00
If storm Ciaran caused two deaths and between 370 and 480 million euros in damage in France, the damage is also significant at the European level. There are at least seven dead, including a 5-year-old Ukrainian boy in Belgium. There are numerous injuries. Ciaran also caused significant disruption, with ports closed and flights canceled. Falling trees caused by violent gusts of wind are the cause of most fatal accidents: two victims in Belgium, two in France, one in the center of Madrid, one in Germany and a seventh in the Netherlands .
In the Flemish city of Ghent, the Ukrainian child, who was playing outside, was injured by falling branches and died in hospital a few hours later, according to the public prosecutor’s office. In a separate incident, a 64-year-old woman, visiting from Germany, was also killed in a city park. His 31-year-old daughter was seriously injured.
Storm Ciaran led to the interruption of part of rail traffic in Flanders and trains were running at reduced speed in the rest of Belgium on Thursday. Maritime traffic was also interrupted for the day in the Antwerp port area. And Brussels airport was also experiencing disruptions. But flights continued to operate there despite numerous delays.
The two deaths in France are a septuagenarian who fell to his death in Le Havre (north-west) after being hit by the shutters of his home due to violent winds, and a truck driver killed in the north of the country by the fall. from a tree on his truck. Sixteen people, including seven firefighters, were injured in the same area, including one seriously, according to the Interior Ministry.
In France, around 1.2 million homes were deprived of electricity, including 780,000 in Brittany, in the west of France. And more than a million people have been deprived of a mobile network, French Minister for Digital Jean-Noël Barrot announced Thursday in a message on X (formerly Twitter).
Schools closed
Ciaran then reached England on Thursday afternoon, where strong winds and heavy rain caused significant disruption, with maritime connections from the port of Dover suspended for a good part of the morning. Hundreds of schools have been closed.
The Channel Island of Jersey, on red alert, recorded winds of up to 160 km/h and 35 people had to stay in hotels after damage to their homes according to police. All flights have been canceled at Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney airports. In Cornwall, in the southwest of England, more than 8,500 homes were left without electricity. In the Netherlands, the alert level was raised to orange, with winds expected up to 110 km/h.
Sports competitions canceled
The Dutch wind cycling championships were also canceled because of… the wind. “Unfortunately the wind became stronger and stronger as the days went by, preventing us from starting the race. The safety of everyone is our main priority,” declared the organizers, with the maximum wind speed during the race not being able to exceed 61 km/h.
At Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, around 200 flights, mainly to nearby European destinations, were canceled. Rail and ferry traffic was also disrupted. Faced with traffic jams, motorists were asked to favor working from home.
READ ALSO Storm Ciaran: Finistère enters a hellish nightThe circulation of regional trains in the west of France is interrupted until Friday morning. And high-speed trains have been suspended on the Paris-Le Mans and Paris-Nantes routes. In the west of France, the winds approached 200 km/h during the night from Wednesday to Thursday in Finistère, at the tip of Brittany.
9 meter waves
The transport sector was particularly disrupted in the west of France, where road traffic was banned Thursday morning in Finistère. At Beauvais airport, near Paris, almost all flights were canceled until midday.
In Spain, the part most affected by the storm is the northwest, where some areas of Galicia are on red alert, due to extremely violent winds on the coast. According to the Spanish meteorological agency (Aemet), certain coastal areas of the Basque Country are also on red alert, with waves reaching 8 or 9 meters. Thirteen flights were canceled Thursday at Bilbao airport, according to Spanish airport manager Aena. Five other cancellations took place at other airports in Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria.
The storm also led to the interruption of rail traffic on Thursday between Ourense and Vigo or between A Coruña and Ferrol, in Galicia, as well as on other small lines in the regions of Cantabria, Asturias or the Basque Country.
Portugal will not be “directly affected” by storm Ciaran, said the national meteorological institute, which however placed the coastal regions of the center and north of the country under red alert.
Extreme weather events (cyclones, heatwaves, floods, droughts, etc.) are natural phenomena. But global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activity can amplify them.
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