Gale Winds Requires Victims...05/29/00
Translated From Germany - Tagesschau News
(Some of the translation, like the title of this story, is not quite the way we would have written it. This is a literal translation from a German news source)

A heavy storm with gale gusts is away swept at Sunday over west and Northern Germany and the Netherlands. At least four humans died, 20 further were partially seriously hurt.

In Germany particularly North Rhine-Westphalia was concerned. Task forces had to disengage to approximately 4300 applications, reported the position center of the ministry of the Interior in Duesseldorf. The gale gusts led partly to chaoritschen Vekehrsbehinderungen. The entire train service in the country was strongly impaired. Viee of trees were bent by the storm and hurled on roads and railways. In the kurpark of bath Salzuflen was killed a man by a umstuerzenden tree.

Also in sections of Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein the storm with more than 100 kilometers per hour over country swept and entwurzelte numerous trees. Larger damages to property were not announced first, it gave however substantial handicaps for the course and motor traffic.

In the Netherlands the storm required three human lives. In Helmond a child of nine years and a man were killed by a falling down branch. In the Amsterdamer suburb Oosthuizen died a driver, when its vehicle was met of a entwurzelten tree.

Sturmwarnungen in the north

Particularly at the North Sea Coast is to be counted with an uncomfortable night. The sea-seewetteramt Hamburg expects the high point of the storm with gale gusts up to the wind force twelve in the late evening and published a tempest warning. For the nordfriesische coast a storm tide was forecast. At the Baltic Sea coast there is to be wind force 11. Also in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Berlin and Brandenburg heavy storm is expected.

A cause for the tempest is the low " Ginger ", which came along with high temperature differences. " over England, Holland and Germany these contrasts, with which cold air from the north meets with warm air from the south together, became very strongly ", explained Dieter of saved from the German weather service. " with such a position fast gale lows can develop. "

In North Rhine-Westphalia the storm swept also over 100 km/h over the country. Umgestuerzte of trees and torn off branches blocked motorways, highways and tracks. The new remote station at the Duesseldorfer airport could not be started one hour long. In long-distance traffic it came to delays from 30 to 45 minutes.

In the Netherlands with Helmond in the southeast of the country a driver and its ten-year son in their car were killed by a down-converging branch. In Oosthuizen a driver in the rubble of its died from a tree destroyed auto.

In Lower Saxony and Bremen one still expects the high point with gusts of the strength twelve before midnight. But on afternoon it at police and fire-brigade in Bremen already meant: " we have everything outside, which rolls. "

To the father day better weather

In the next days further gale lows over the Atlantic can form. It remains cool and wet in Germany in any case until Wednesday. To the father day however a change of trend is to come. At Christi Ascension Day gives it in the southwest 24 degree, in the north to still 18 degrees. " the sun gets the upper hand, and the new high still provides on Friday and Saturday for sun ", so the Offenbacher Meteoroligist Norbert Bonanati. Then however the fair weather phase is to be already again past.

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