Uprooted trees, torn roofs, lying heavy goods vehicles: the Eunice storm caused three serious injuries on Friday in the north of France, and significant material damage, also disrupting all transport. On Saturday morning, some 37,000 homes were still without power in northern France and some regional rail links were interrupted.
In the north, around 30 people were injured, six of them seriously, in particular in road accidents linked to the wind, falls or due to falling materials.
In Le Touquet, in Pas-de-Calais, a municipal agent was seriously injured by the fall of a concrete block, according to the town hall’s website. Minor injuries were also recorded in Pas-de-Calais and Somme by the prefectures.
In Lille, a closed station and diverted flights
One of Lille’s two stations was closed in the middle of the afternoon following material falling on the glass roof, and the TGVs were redirected to the other station.
Lille-Lesquin airport diverted flights to other airports during the afternoon. Passengers on a flight from Toulouse also remained stuck in the aircraft for several hours.
176
In France, waves sometimes exceeding nine meters have been recorded in Brittany, according to Météo France, as well as gusts of wind locally reaching 176 km / hours at Cap Gris-Nez, according to the private tornado observatory Keraunos.
Thirteen dead in Europe
Storm Eunice had hit the British Isles first.
In Irelandthe first country affected, a 60-year-old man died in the same circumstances in the south-east of the country.
In England, a gust of 196 km / h was recorded on the Isle of Wight, unheard of, while others were measured at more than 110 km / h inland, including at London Heathrow airport. In London, a woman in her thirties was killed in the afternoon by a tree falling on the car in which she was a passenger, and a man in his fifties was killed near Liverpool (north) while Debris hit the windshield of the vehicle he was in. A third person also died. Millions of Britons have been told to stay home by the weather service. Nearly 140,000 homes were without power in the afternoon and more than 400 flights were canceled at airports across the country.
Friday afternoon, Eunice then shifted to the mainland. In Belgiuma 79-year-old Canadian who lived on a boat in the marina of Ypres (west) died after falling into the water while trying to recover objects which had flown away.
To Netherlandsfour people were killed, according to the Dutch emergency services, by falling trees or in accidents during the passage of the storm, which triggered its highest level of alert.
In Germanya driver was killed when a tree fell on his vehicle in Altenberge, North Rhine-Westphalia, not far from the city of Munster.
The Poland also has two deaths.
Many of these deaths are due to trees falling on vehicles.
This damage occurs just after the passage of the storm Dudley, which killed at least five people in Europe.