Twin storms sever power to 150,000 homes across northern Europe
Boelo and Austen struck the region within 24 hours, leaving residents in the UK, France, and Germany without electricity and forcing a hospital in Freiburg to restrict services.
By Alyssa Parker ·
Two storms struck northern Europe within 24 hours, killing one man and cutting electricity to more than 150,000 homes.
Storms Boelo and Austen moved through the region on Saturday and Sunday, causing widespread outages and travel disruptions. Authorities reported that more than 82,000 households in the United Kingdom lost power. In France, nearly 60,000 homes remained without electricity by midday Sunday. Germany recorded at least 10,000 affected residences.
A falling tree killed a 60-year-old man in southwestern Scotland on Sunday. The same type of incident injured two women in central Scotland, according to the Press Association. Winds reached 135 kilometers per hour in Argyll and Bute in western Scotland. The force of the wind downed trees and power lines, blocking roads and rail tracks across Scotland and northern England.
In Brighton, England, Storm Austen destroyed an unused pier on Friday. The Met Office warned that Boelo posed a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves. The agency advised people to stay indoors as much as possible. Flood risks were cited for regions in both Scotland and England.
French utility Enedis stated that 288,000 homes lost power at the peak of Storm Austen on Saturday. By Sunday midday, 59,000 customers in Normandy and Brittany were still without service. A marathon runner in northern France suffered minor injuries after a tree fell on her during a race. In the Netherlands, three crew members on a freight ship were injured north of Schiermonnikoog. Two were airlifted to a mainland hospital.
In Germany, the blackout affected the main hospital in Freiburg-Breisgau. The hospital limited services to emergency cases because the power failure also disrupted the mobile phone network. German police reported that two people were seriously injured on Saturday when scaffolding was blown away at a market in Nastatten. Four people were injured by falling trees in Brussels, Belgium.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted across the region. Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, a major continental hub, was among the facilities affected by the weather system.
Source: Al Jazeera
