Two People Dead Due To Powerful Storm In Netherlands

Two people died following a destructive storm that hit the Netherlands and northwestern Germany.

According to a report on AccuWeather, summer windstorm, named as Storm Poly, brought damage in Netherlands and northwestern Germany.

Weather experts said Poly's heavy rains and strong winds toppled trees and even cars in Amsterdam.

The report cited the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute wherein it said Poly was the worst windstorm that hit the country in the month of July.

Furthermore, it is deemed as one of the most powerful summer storms that affected the country in more than 50 years.

Fatalities, Disruptions

An ABC News report said a woman died in Haarlem after a tree fell on a car.

On the other hand, a pedestrian died in the northwestern German town of Rhede, a municipality near the Netherlands border, after a tree also fell on her.

According to the report, flights were also affected because of the weather disturbance.

The Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, one of Europe's busiest aviation hubs, posted an advisory to the public on its website, saying a "very limited air traffic will be possible," which may later lead to cancellations and delays for arriving and departing flights.

As the wind eases, the airport noted that more planes could take off and land but disruptions were still expected.

Aside from the airport hubs, railways were also adversely affected. The national railway company reportedly stopped the operations of all trains in the northern Netherlands.

Meanwhile, in Germany, some ferries going to islands just off the North Sea coast were canceled because of the bad weather.

It was also noticeable that trees fell on a railway line between the city of Emden and the town of Leer.

Moreover, a line that runs between Hamburg and Sylt, which is a popular vacation island, was also shut between the towns of Husum and Niebuell.

Rare occurrence of windstorm

The weather service of Germany stated that the windstorm was considered to be quite rare during this period of the year.

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tyler Roys said windstorms as powerful and strong as Poly are more often observed during the late autumn to early springtime period in this part of Europe.

"What increased the damage from this storm was the fact that the trees have all their leaves. When you introduce wind gusts above 50 mph, the likelihood for branches to break off increases, especially when you have gusts of 70-90 mph, which occurred in a narrow corridor from Ijmiuiden to Amsterdam to Hourtibdijk," Roys said in the AccuWeather report.

Meteorologists also issued a code red, its highest warning level, for the provinces of North Holland, Flevoland, Friesland and the IJsselmeer area due to Poly.

Meanwhile, code orange and yellow warnings were further enforced in other parts of the country.

According to meteorologists, Poly's arrival marked the first time that a code red warning had been issued in the country since Storm Eunice caused massive destruction in the region in February 2022.