Surviving Xynthia

Storm Xynthia passes through Luxembourg. 50 known victims in Europe until now.

One of the most violent Atlantic Storms to hit Western Europe passed over Luxembourg (and more particularly -in my case – the J’accuse abode) yesterday afternoon. From the warm comfort of the study, behind the double-glazing, I could witness the full force of the strong winds (reaching 105 km/h) passing through the Parc de Merl and carrying branches, leaves and debris along with them. The biggest work that the storm called Xynthia caused me was to occasionally venture onto the terrace to pick up the latest stray object that blew onto it. The greatest prize of the day is a light laundry basket – probably from one of the surrounding gardens.

Many persons were not so lucky. The death toll from the storm currently counts 50 persons, 45 of which are from France (4 in Spain, 1 in Germany). In Luxembourg the firemen received 3,000 calls, 760 of which were urgent. 420 calls were for uprooted trees, 161 for roofs falling apart (tiling), and 40 for scaffolding that broke loose. The injury toll in Luxembourg amounts to 4 people while 15 people who were intelligent enough to venture into forests needed saving. A large number of roads have been closed and Luxair flights were cancelled during the day. It appears that Xynthia headed for Belgium and Germany after leaving Luxembourg (wind without frontiers) while showing no sign of abating. The storm had formed over the Atlantic and was one the cause of the flooding in Madeira, Portugal.