BACKGROUND: Part of wood left to rot in forests
Storm Gudrun swept over Southern Sweden on January 8th and 9th. The tempest tore down some 75 million cubic metres of timber, equal to the amount felled annually in Sweden.
The country’s forestry authorities have estimated that there will be time to clear away two thirds of the wood, but the rest will decay in the forests. The damage to the forests totals over two billion euros.
The quality of wood deteriorates rapidly when pests attack the material in the heat of summer. Some of the timber will be preserved by sinking it in lakes.
The storm cut the power from 400,000 homes, and 200,000 homes were left without landline telephones. The electric lines were so badly damaged that even one month after the squall, a few thousand homes were still without electricity, and even more were still without phones.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 15.3.2005
More on this subject:
 Finns helping to clear storm damage in Sweden
Helsingin Sanomat
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