Germany recovers from deadly Storm Herwart
October 31, 2017
Germany was still reeling from the aftermath of Storm Herwart on Tuesday after days of train standstills, flooding and traffic chaos that destroyed historic buildings and caused Berlin to declare a state of emergency.
In the Czech Republic and Poland, Herwart claimed the lives of four people who were struck by falling trees.
On the North Sea island of Langeoog, a freight ship remained stranded on the beach after flood waters receded. The town has called in top salvage experts, who remained stumped two days after the worst of the storm.
Over the weekend, the storm wrecked havoc on the nation's transport system. The trains in much of northern Germany, including Hannover and Hamburg, came to a complete stop – forcing rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) to send thousands of passengers in cramped taxis, sometimes for hours, to destinations as far away as Berlin.
Train services finally returned to normal on Tuesday, but not after prompting outrage at how ill-prepared DB is for any minor disruption to the services. In August, an accident on a short stretch of track in the south of Germany interrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers, as well as the delivery of necessary goods like food and medicine for nearly two months.
As global temperatures rise, countries like Germany – which are usually free from many of the natural disasters that plague the rest of the world – are experiencing more extreme weather. October 2017 is the warmest October on record, at an average of 11.1 degrees Celsius (52 degrees Fahrenheit). Earlier this month, Storm Xavier wreaked similar havoc across the country.
es/jm (dpa, Reuters)