case study: the Storm of Jan 18 2007 in the Netherlands

South-western Storm force 10 / 11 hit Holland, here's an overview of the impact of fast moving air on a country:

N247-near-Katwoude.jpg

  • Many roads are closed due to fallen trees.
  • A2 Utrecht / Amsterdam closed in both directions due to a sound-screen that nearly blew away at Utrecht
  • Many roads closed due to trucks that have been blown over, A12 Utrecht, N247 Katwoude, N11, A27 Almere (twice), N36 Almelo, A16 Moerdijkbrug. Truckers are advised to park somewhere calm.
  • Pizza couriers won't drive.

train.jpg

  • Rail Cargo transport is stopped
  • All over the country railways are damaged and blocked by stuff, the power-lines can only be repaired if the force of wind drops below 5.
  • Airports closed, a few hundred people got stuck at Schiphol.
  • E-mails claiming to contain details of the storms contain a malicious virus. E-mails with the subject line “230 dead as storm batters Europe”

Erasmus-bridge.jpg

  • In Leiden it rained a total of 41,4 millimeters.
  • Close to Den Helder 8 millimeters of rain fell in 10 minutes.
  • The road over the Oosterscheldekering closed (N57)
  • The Haringvliet bridge closed.
  • The Erasmus bridge closed.
  • The Moerdijk bridge (A16) closed
  • The dijk Enkhuizen-Lelystad closed.
  • Ferries don't run to Vlieland and Terschelling
  • The container-ship Claudel broke loose in Rotterdam seaport, and smashed into a anchorage of an Oil Terminal, about 400 to 800 cubic meters of oil was spilled. The oil can't be cleared due to the nightfall. Citizens of the Hague have reported a stinky smell.
  • All Dutch pumping-stations are pumping full-speed, so that lowlands don't flood.
  • Permanent dijk-patrols in Groningen and Friesland provinces.
  • All waterways are closed in Groningen Province.
  • Dijk-water-passages are closed at Delftzijl.
  • At Heemskerk sea and wind washed away 4 meters of dunes over over a distance of 4 kilometers.
  • Water-pressure dropped in Eastern parts of the Country, due to damage by the roots of uprooted trees.
  • One person was blown into the canal in Amsterdam.

Zwolle.jpg

  • Fronts of office buildings were blown away.
  • Glass fell-off nice shiny sky-scrapers.
  • At Kuiderbos in the Noordoostpolder 4000 pines were blown over.
  • Cranes fell-over in Leiden and other places.
  • Cranes didn't work in Rotterdam seaport.
  • At the Brabanthallen in Den Bosch people can't leave because it's too dangerous to approach their cars with parts of the conference-center flying around.
  • Train stations closed in Utrecht and Amsterdam, in Utrecht people can stay overnight in the conference center.

Adam.jpg

  • Trauma-helicopters didn't fly, but buses are used instead.
  • Mounted Police went by car.
  • The red-cross helped 6000 stuck travelers at the stations.
  • The National meteorological institute handled 3 million visitors in the afternoon and then shut down.
  • A website named http://www.crisis.nl was opened because all other sites were overloaded, it got 3,5 million visits in five hours.
  • The National crisis center advises all to stay indoors, they fear objects flying around and a national public-information-number has been opened with 25 lines and was called 7000 times.

Mauritskade-Adam.jpg

  • 7 people have died.
  • There were 172 traffic accidents, that is four times the usual amount.
  • An unknown number of animals died when barns collapsed.
  • At least 160 million Euros damage.
  • storm.txt
  • Last modified: 2008-02-21 13:34
  • by theunkarelse