On Sunday, February 9, Storm Ciara hit the Netherlands, causing 240 flights to be cancelled at Schiphol that day and at least 222 to be cancelled on Monday, February 10. This is not the only impact the storm had, as the strong winds caused plenty of damage across the country.
Whilst not all the damage done by the storm has been established, what we do know is that the strong winds caused trees to be blown over and house facades and roof tiles to be blown off. The storm has also taken the life of a cow, which died when a stable partially collapsed.
According to Yannick Damen, a meteorologist at Weeronline, “On drilling platforms in the North Sea, wind speeds were measured up to wind force eleven. The expectation was that the wind force would be 10." In Rotterdam, residents were evacuated from their apartment building when a part of the roof blew off, measuring about 20m2, and the rain started to come in.
Elsewhere, trees toppled, one hitting a moving car in Roermond and leaving a woman injured. There were also reports of trees being uprooted in The Hague, near the South African Embassy and on the Schenkviaduct. Trains were also affected yesterday due to falling branches.
Branches on overhead lines and on the tracks caused problems between, Zwolle and Enschede, Gorinchem and Leerdam, Apeldoorn and Enschede, Zaandam and Enkhuizen, Breda and Tilburg, and Raalte and Nijverdal. A train even hit a fallen tree between Eindhoven and Helmond, luckily no one was injured, but the train sustained considerable damage. The same thing happened on the Amsterdam to Berlin route, again, no one was injured.
Right now, the wind is still terrorising the country and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) has lifted the code orange warning but has code yellow still in place. You can expect gusts of wind to reach 80km/h and 90 - 100km/h at the coast. If you are driving or cycling, take extra care, one of the lanes on the A16 from Rotterdam to Breda has been closed due to a lorry being tipped over.
Trains services are largely back to normal, however, there are still some problems and some services will remain cancelled until the winds have subsided. Those travelling by train should keep an eye on the NS website for updates.