Xynthia kills at least 62 across western Europe
Source: Agencies |
March 2, 2010, Tuesday
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THOUSANDS of firefighters and other rescue workers searched house by house yesterday along France's devastated Atlantic coast, trying to help those still stranded by a storm that smashed sea walls and killed at least 62 people across western Europe.
The storm, called Xynthia, blew into France early Sunday with hurricane-force winds, flooding ports, destroying homes and leaving 1 million households without electricity. It also battered Belgium, Portugal, Spain and parts of Germany and snarled train and air travel throughout the continent.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy toured the worst-hit areas yesterday, the coastal regions of Vendee and Charente-Maritime, and pledged 3 million euros (US$4 million) in emergency aid.
Regional officials clamored for France to quickly reinforce its aging sea walls. About half the French death toll of 51 was attributed to the breach of the sea wall off the coastal town of L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer, where ocean waters surged up to the roofs of some homes.
The spokesman for France's emergency services, Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Vailli, said nine other people were still missing and scores more were wounded.
The storm also caused six deaths in Germany - including a two-year-old boy who drowned after he was blown into a river. Three people were dead in Spain, and Belgium and Portugal had one fatality each.
France's railways had major delays, and cancellations continued yesterday at Frankfurt airport - one of Europe's most important hubs.
Sarkozy flew over the worst-flooded areas and met with locals in L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer, promising to quickly channel recovery funds.
"It is a national disaster, a human drama with a terrible death toll," he aid. "The urgent thing is to support the families who have members missing or dead."
The French leader also tried to deflect criticism over the state of the country's sea walls, saying "this is not the time."
One official noted just how old some sea walls were.
"The sea wall that broke dated from (the era) of Napoleon," Philippe de Villiers, who heads the regional government in Vendee, told France-Info. "Either we build (new) sea walls, in which case they need to be taller and taller ... or we have to build further" inland.
In Portugal's Azores islands, a flash flood swept a school bus off a road. The driver and one child are missing on Sao Miguel, one of the archipelago's nine islands.
The storm, called Xynthia, blew into France early Sunday with hurricane-force winds, flooding ports, destroying homes and leaving 1 million households without electricity. It also battered Belgium, Portugal, Spain and parts of Germany and snarled train and air travel throughout the continent.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy toured the worst-hit areas yesterday, the coastal regions of Vendee and Charente-Maritime, and pledged 3 million euros (US$4 million) in emergency aid.
Regional officials clamored for France to quickly reinforce its aging sea walls. About half the French death toll of 51 was attributed to the breach of the sea wall off the coastal town of L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer, where ocean waters surged up to the roofs of some homes.
The spokesman for France's emergency services, Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Vailli, said nine other people were still missing and scores more were wounded.
The storm also caused six deaths in Germany - including a two-year-old boy who drowned after he was blown into a river. Three people were dead in Spain, and Belgium and Portugal had one fatality each.
France's railways had major delays, and cancellations continued yesterday at Frankfurt airport - one of Europe's most important hubs.
Sarkozy flew over the worst-flooded areas and met with locals in L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer, promising to quickly channel recovery funds.
"It is a national disaster, a human drama with a terrible death toll," he aid. "The urgent thing is to support the families who have members missing or dead."
The French leader also tried to deflect criticism over the state of the country's sea walls, saying "this is not the time."
One official noted just how old some sea walls were.
"The sea wall that broke dated from (the era) of Napoleon," Philippe de Villiers, who heads the regional government in Vendee, told France-Info. "Either we build (new) sea walls, in which case they need to be taller and taller ... or we have to build further" inland.
In Portugal's Azores islands, a flash flood swept a school bus off a road. The driver and one child are missing on Sao Miguel, one of the archipelago's nine islands.
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