Storm kills at least 14 and causes damage throughout Northern Europe
Tourists evacuated at Estonian spa resort town
At least 14 people have been killed in Denmark, Sweden, and Britain in the massive winter storm that hit Northern Europe during the weekend.
The winds caused extensive damage in Estonia. In the coastal town of Pärnu, spa resorts were isolated by flooding water and hundreds of tourists had to be evacuated.
The storm also led to flooding in St. Petersburg, at the far eastern end of the Gulf of Finland.
In Southern Sweden gusts of wind of up to 40 metres a second were measured on Saturday night. Seven people were killed in accidents involving falling trees, flying debris, and falls. The storm killed four people in Denmark.
Nearly half a million households in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway were left without electricity.
The Swedish nuclear power plants at Barsebäck and Ringhals were shut down for a short time on Saturday night.
At least three people were killed in Britain, where the city of Carlisle suffered severe flood damage.
On Sunday morning 400,000 households in Southern Sweden were without electricity, and electric utilities say that it might take a week before service is restored to all homes that have been affected.
Train services in much of the southern part of Sweden were at a standstill because of electric failures and trees falling on the rails.
In the city of Gothenburg on Sweden's Atlantic coast, tram services came to a halt as flooding hit the streets of the centre of the city.
The situation was less severe in the capital Stockholm, but even there some trees fell, and there were problems with the mains electricity supply. The storm was seen as the worst to have hit Sweden since 1969.
Danes were busy on Sunday clearing up the previous night's damage. Trees and roofs blown down by the wind had to be cleared away, and water had to be pumped out of cellars.
Nearly all land, sea, and air transport was at a standstill on Saturday evening, and delays continued on Sunday. The heavy winds destroyed a number of seaside cottages.
In Norway, the storm, named "Gudrun", caused its most extensive damage in the south of the country. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The next storm is expected to hit Norway already on Monday evening.
In Estonia, the coastal city of Pärnu was worst hit. The city's centre, and its beachfront area with its famous spas, was flooded. More than 200 people were evacuated from the area on Sunday, including 80 guests at the Tervise spa, most of whom were Finnish pensioners.
By Sunday evening, 11 local residents had been treated for hypothermia.
In St. Petersburg the water in the River Neva rose to 2.4 metres above the average level.
Six of the stations of the city's Metro were shut down. Streets and cellars in the city were flooded, but officials say that no great damage occurred.
Helsingin Sanomat
