Massive snow storm triggers chaos across Germany
NAN-F-30
Storm
Berlin, Jan. 13, 2017 (dpa/NAN) A massive snow storm triggered chaos in Germany on Friday, causing severe disruption to transport nationwide and leaving parts of the country without power amid hurricane force winds.
Highways as well as rail links throughout Germany were blocked due to the storm.
Trees were uprooted and residents were snowed in at home as the cold front dubbed Egon swept across the country resulting in countless accidents on icy roads.
The meteorological authorities were expecting the storm to dump up to 30 centimetres of snow in parts of the nation on Friday.
The country’s main airport in Frankfurt said it had to cancel about 125 of the 1,100 flights scheduled for Friday amid wind gusts of about 140 km per hour.
“The storm was so strong that preparations for flights had to be halted at times,” a spokesman for the Frankfurt airport operator, Fraport, said.
It also warned that passengers should expect delays during the day.
Police called on truck drivers to pull over onto highway rest areas until the storm passed after the icy conditions resulted in several lorry accidents and traffic pileups on the autobahns.
School bus services were also cancelled as Egon took its toll on public transport services in the southern part of Germany.
Car accidents added to the chaos on roads caused by the storm front and fallen trees damaged power lines.
More than 400 police were being deployed alone in the south western state of Baden Wuerttemberg to deal with the fallout from the storm.
In addition, the nation’s wine industry was concerned about the impact of the storm on their crops with wind gusts in higher grape-growing areas reaching speeds of up to 148 km an hour.
The authorities also warned of avalanches in the nation’s mountainous areas.
It warned against the threat of strong winds as hundreds of skiers, snowboard riders and winter sport enthusiasts head for the Alps to enjoy the piles of fresh snow. (dpa/NAN)
(Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Julius Enehikhuere)