Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited
December 27, 1999
By Lee Yanowitch
PARIS, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Western Europe struggled to clear roads and railways and repair power lines on Monday after violent storms at the weekend killed more than 50 people.
Stranded train and plane passengers resumed their travels and clean-up squads removed fallen trees and chimney rubble in northern and eastern France, where at least 33 were reported dead. A million and a half homes were without electricity.
Officials in Britain, where eight people died, warned that hundreds of homes were still at risk from severe flooding over the next two days. Some 270 rivers across southern Britain remained on flood alert.
In Germany, where the freak storm killed at least 15 people, some highways and many smaller roads -- especially in the Stuttgart area -- were still blocked by trees felled by winds gusting up to 180 km per hour (108 mph).
``There's never been anything like this. Obviously, because it was unique and exceptional, we were far less prepared than if it were something that had happened before,'' Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot told French radio.
Freak winds ravaged property throughout Switzerland, where 11 people died including two in a ski gondola brought down in the Alps. Trees were flattened like matchsticks and road and rail crews were still working on clearing debris from the storm.
``We forget from time to time that nature has its own rules. This lesson which we have learned once again is painful, but perhaps useful. We cannot deal with nature like a tame horse,'' Swiss President Ruth Dreifuss said.
WATER SUPPLY HIT IN BELGIUM
Rivers breaking their banks have deprived around 30,000 people of drinking water in Belgium's southern Charleroi region, where emergency services have begun delivering water in tankers and plastic bags. A spokesman for the local water company said the situation might continue until Wednesday.
France's SNCF state railways cancelled train services through northern France on Sunday, leaving tens of thousands of angry Christmas travellers stranded in stations.
Passengers in large cities such as Lille and Lyon spent the night in emergency lodgings in sports halls or youth hostels, where Red Cross volunteers gave them breakfast.
Mainline train services were gradually restarting on Monday, but trains between Paris and the eastern cities of Strasbourg and Belfort, and Normandy were still at a halt.
``We hope to be back to normal over the whole network by tomorrow morning,'' SNCF head Louis Gallois told Europe 1 radio.
The gales, among the worst in living memory, uprooted trees and toppled cranes. Paris's two airports closed for several hours on Sunday. Six visitors to Disneyland Paris were injured when a tree fell on the bungalow where they were staying.
Paris Mayor Jean Tiberi has asked the government to declare the city a disaster area to speed up insurance payments.
At the Versailles Chateau outside Paris, windows were smashed and about 6,000 trees uprooted in its sculpted gardens. The Boulogne and Vincennes forests in Paris were also badly hit.
France's weather service said a fresh storm with winds up to 140 kph would head for the coast on Monday evening, from Aquitaine in southwest France towards the Riviera.
German state railways Deutsche Bahn AG said 13 lines in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate were closed and storm damage would cost millions of marks to repair.
Airports in southern Germany suffered flight delays and temporary power cuts hit parts of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria.
In Italy, a light plane crashed and its pilot and instructor were killed on Sunday in Torino province after the pilot lost control of the aircraft in severe turbulence caused by winds.