Waves batter the North Sea coast at the ferry dock in Dagebuell, northern Germany, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. Weather forecasters predicted winds gusting up to 87 miles (140 kilometers) per hour on Germany’s North Sea coast. AP PHOTO/DPA, CARSTEN REHDER
LONDON—A fierce storm battered northern Europe with hurricane force winds Thursday, leaving five people dead or missing, disrupting travel and forcing thousands to flee their homes over fears of the worst tidal surge in decades.
British authorities evacuated 15,000 homes as flooding started on the North Sea coast while Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden all boosted their flood defenses.
Winds of up to 142 miles per hour (228 kilometers per hour) were recorded in Scotland and Britain’s environment agency said the “surge along the east coast of England is expected to be the worst for more than 60 years.”
Hundreds of flights were canceled across northern Europe while rail and ferry services were shut down and one of Europe’s longest bridges—connecting Sweden to Denmark—was closed.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said he had convened the government’s emergency committee to ensure necessary measures were being taken, amid fears of a repeat of a 1953 storm surge, which killed more than 2,000 people in northern Europe.
5 dead
In Britain, a lorry driver died when his vehicle toppled onto a number of cars in Scotland, while a man riding a mobility scooter was struck by a falling tree in Nottinghamshire, central England.
Two sailors were reportedly swept overboard from a ship off the southern Swedish coast on Thursday. Air-sea rescue services failed to find them.
In western Denmark, a 72-year-old woman died after strong winds tipped over the van she was driving.
The biggest fear across Europe was from a potentially devastating storm surge, which will coincide with high tides in many areas late Thursday and early Friday.
Police and council officials said they were evacuating 9,000 homes in the county of Norfolk, eastern England, and 1,000 in Essex, southeastern England, before three high tides over the next 36 hours.
Flooding has started in some areas, with lifeboat staff evacuating several residents in North Wales, and the environment agency issuing more than 40 individual flood warnings.
In the Netherlands—where 27 percent of the country lies below sea-level—the landmark Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier has been closed for the first time in six years.
1953 storm surge
The barrier was built after the 1953 storm surge.
Dutch authorities said they had issued the highest possible flood warning for four areas in the north and northwest of the country.
Belgium is expected to experience a storm surge of up to 6.1 meters, “the highest for 30 years,” said Carl Decaluwe, the governor of West Flanders province.
Germany reinforced emergency services in and around the northern port of Hamburg and canceled lessons at many schools, while Swedish authorities also issued flood warnings.
Travel chaos
There was travel chaos as the storm barreled across the North Sea from Britain towards Germany and northwest Europe.
Many flights from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports in Scotland were canceled because of the weather conditions.
Terrifying video footage showed planes including an Emirates flight having to abort landings at the last minute after coming in almost sideways at Birmingham airport in central England.
An easyJet plane separately made failed attempts to land at both Glasgow and Edinburgh before heading to Manchester in northwest England.
“I’m feeling really lucky to be alive,” said Hazel Bedford, a passenger on the easyJet plane.
“Everything started shaking and bumping, we were going up and down, up and down, like a rollercoaster. An awful lot of people were being sick.”
Hamburg airport said 128 flights were canceled because of high winds while Dutch airline KLM scrapped 84 continental flights from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. Several internal flights were cancelled in Sweden.
Oeresund road-rail bridge closed
Rail travel was badly hit, with all train services in Scotland canceled at one point.
The Oeresund road and rail bridge between Sweden and Denmark closed, as did several Swedish rail lines.
Danish authorities said they were closing down rail services across the country and Germany said it might do the same.
Ferries to Germany from Sweden and Denmark were canceled.
In Britain, the storm played havoc with powerlines. More than 20,000 homes were left without power in Scotland and 6,500 in Northern Ireland.—Danny Kemp
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