Since Friday, Storm Babet has hit Northern Europe, causing flooding and material damage.
Storm Babet continued to cause flooding and material damage on Saturday in the United Kingdom, notably disrupting rail traffic, after sweeping regions of Denmark, Norway and Germany during the night from Friday to Saturday.
She had started to hit from Friday Scotland, causing the death of three people, including two in the northeast of the country, where the red alert was lifted late Saturday. “Parts of Scotland are still experiencing severe flooding, and some rivers remain at dangerous levels“, however indicated the Scottish government in a press release, with rain levels described as “exceptional». «Weather conditions are improving, but remain extremely difficult, particularly in the worst affected areas of Tayside“, in the east of the country, said Deputy Chief of the Scottish Police Stuart Houston.
300 flood alerts in England
More than 300 flood alerts have been issued by the Environment Agency across England since Thursday, the majority in Yorkshire (north) and the Midlands (central). Three alerts for “severe flooding», «which generate a significant risk to life» from nearby residents, were notably issued on the banks of the River Derwent in Derby in the center, she indicated on her site.
According to one of its managers, Katharine Smith, “Continued flooding is likely on some major rivers including the Severn, Ouse and Trent until Tuesday», in the north and center.
Interviewed on BBC One, Labor MP Toby Perkins said that around 400 homes in his constituency of Chesterfield, in central England, had been flooded and many people were now “no longer safe”.no idea where they will be able to live».
2.30 meters
In London, King’s Cross station had to close its doors for a few hours on Saturday afternoon to limit the influx of travelers, massed in the hall and on the platforms following the cancellation or delays of numerous trains.
As reported on Scotland from London, are always “seriously disturbed».
Also read: Landslides, rising water levels… In the Alpes-Maritimes, the red alert awakens the ghosts of storm Alex
The storm also hit the coast of northern Germany on Friday evening, raging all night, and causing the death of a woman killed in her car by a falling tree, firefighters said. Strong winds and rain caused water levels to rise, causing flooding and the evacuation of around 2,000 people, according to the emergency services of the state of Schleswig-Holstein.
The highest water levels were recorded around midnight on Friday: in Flensburg (north), it reached almost 2.30 meters above normal – a value not seen for almost 120 years. The situation was improving on Saturday.
A cyclist passes a flooded street in Flensburg, northern Germany, October 20, 2023. AXEL HEIMKEN / AFP A cyclist passes a flooded street in Flensburg, northern Germany, October 20, 2023. AXEL HEIMKEN / AFP
In Denmark, storm Babet triggered a sharp rise in water levels in towns in the south of the country, flooding the ground floors of homes without electricity for several hours.
A photograph shows a flooded street around the port of Soenderborg in southern Jutland on October 20, 2023, after a storm hit the area. MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN / AFP
Water levels rose more than two meters above normal in towns like Aabenraa, Haderslev, Sønderborg, Hesnæs, Fynshav, Fåborg and Assensson, levels which are normally only reached once every 100 years, according to the DMI weather service.
«We have to drain large quantities of water from cities, especially in southern Jutlandsaid Martin Vendelbo of the Danish Emergency Management Agency at Ritzau. In the fishing port of Rødvig (Zealand province), several fishing boats ran aground or were on the verge of sinking, according to photos from Danish media.
2023-10-22 10:23:21
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