The answer (and everything else) is blowing in the wind...

Well, here in the Netherlands we're being hit by the heaviest storm in years. Currently the wind is up to 10bft in some parts of the country and we have gusts of 130km/h.

So far the central trainstation in Amsterdam has been closed down due to flying debris. a construction crane fell on the roof of a university building in utrecht. Roofpanels were blown off at the national airport. an oil tanker broke loose in the harbor of rotterdam, it slammed into the dock and damaged some oil pipes. 1600 cubic meters of oil spilled into the sea. In scheveningen (try to pronounce that correctly you native english speakers!) there was someone blown off the harbourhead and into the sea, although this was not officially confirmed. Also in various places roofs and windows were blown from buildings.


I hope the storm will clear before I have to go to work tonight...

The weather has been quite extreme in many places the last few weeks. I've been saying that it is getting more extreme the last couple years. Ice storms here in the U.S. are the worst in a long time with hundreds of thousands without any power. Germany is reported today to be getting extreme winds too. Lots of extreme weather happening. Hunker down and hope all is okay over there.

Sheesh, just stepped out on my balcony for a few minutes to secure my 'garden' furniture... trust me, +100 km/h gusts of wind while wrestling with chairs and a table on a 5th story balcony is no picknick...

Here in the netherlands the storm took 3 lives so far (all traffic related) From what I've heard 7 people died already in the UK.

It is right on top of us (Germany) now.
This is the first time I remember that a general warning was issued and that the population has been advised to stay at home and schools were closed due to a storm.
Well ...
bernie

Good luck to the Euro neighbors. Keep safe.

We are taking a pounding over here in the UK - 7 dead so far...

Many thousands without power as well...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6272193.stm

I bet none of these folks have any sort of emergency lighting or any other emergency/preparedness kit.

Too bloody complacent us Brits and Euros.


CFU

Here's another update, all train traffic in the netherlands has been shut down. a couple of 1000s of travelers will not be able to reach their destination as alternative means of travel couldn't be arranged. in 2 cities shelters have been setup to offer these people a place to spend the night.

The national crisiscentre has advised everyone to stay inside. And I have to go to work the graveyardshift... I better go get a couple of hours of sleep, I have a feeling that this is going to be a looooong night...

Good Luck guys!!!

Hunker down and stay warm.

Jezus, I think I should watch the news. I'm in the middle of my exams, so there's no time for any activities besides studying, eating and sleeping (ok, and checking CPF).

Anyway, I've seen pieces of others buildings fly-by the window today...very powerful storm!

Just checked outside an I think the worst part is over.

Crud, Godbless & goodluck ya'll

Well, as I expected, my night was hell. The cellular network I (try to) keep running had lots of outages, mostly due to radio links being misaligned and mains breakdowns. Due to the bad weather I couldn't send out the repaircrews until halfway through the night. Had a few reports of antennas and dishes broken off masts and buildings too...

But the storm is over and cleaning up the mess can begin... But first I'm going to get some sleep...

Nice title!!

hope everyone in europe is safe and sound.

Yes. I hope everyone is safe and sound.

Powerful storm in Europe leaves 47 dead.

Took me 2 hours to drive home from work on Thursday... a distance of about 12 miles! A friend who works at the same office as me spent 3.5 hrs on the road to get about 20 miles. Mum lost around 8-10 slates off her roof. One guy was killed in our town after the roof from a petrol station canopy blew off and severed his arm as he was filling up

Just to finish off the week, tonight we were down to 30MPH on the motorway as wintry showers hit. Saw one smash and two breakdowns in very quick succession; thankfully no one hurt. It served as a useful reminder to be prepared.