Summer storm causes damage, kills one in Netherlands

The summer storm that hit the Netherlands on Saturday caused the death of one person, injured some others and led to much damage, mainly due to fallen trees.

In Wolfheze, near Arnhem in the province of Gelderland, a man was killed when a tree fell on his car. In Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Apeldoorn a few persons were wounded by fallen trees.

The Netherlands experienced the most severe July storm since the records started to be measured in 1901, weather institute weeronline stated, with occasional gusts of 110 to 120 km per hour. This also had much impact on traffic, with fallen trees blocking roads and rail traffic in much of the west of the country.

The highway between Leiden and The Hague remains closed until at least 6 a.m. on Sunday morning, because so many trees fell on the road that the clean-up work will last all night.

The provinces of Zeeland and South Holland were the first to deal with the storm and especially in and around The Hague the thunderstorm was heavy.

Late in the evening the storm left the Netherlands via the north and the east, and the Royal Netherlands Meteorogical Institute (KNMI) withdrew all weather warnings. Earlier on Saturday the KNMI had issued a Code Red (weather alarm) and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment recommended people not to enter the roads.

Air traffic also suffered from the heavy winds, with dozens of flights to and from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport being delayed or canceled. An aircraft of Transavia, flight 5068 from Girona, Spain, got in trouble and eventually made an emergency landing at Schiphol. Endit