Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 29, 1994 TAG: 9401290021
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FRANKFURT, GERMANY LENGTH: Medium
The storm, called Lore, was the third to hit the continent in six weeks. It knocked out electricity in parts of Germany, Austria and France, stopped trains and caused highway pileups.
The storm struck Thursday night, killing several motorists who crashed into fallen trees.
By Friday afternoon, tides surged. Hamburg, Germany's main North Sea port, registered a peak tide of 19.9 feet, second to the January 1976 record of 21.3 feet. Hamburg's historic harbor was flooded, but the city remained safe.
Switzerland reported 120-mph winds in the Jura mountains and, in the southern German states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria, gusts peaked at 110 mph.
The winds felled trees, and, on a highway in southern Germany, a baby was born in a car trapped by trees. The mother and father were on their way to the hospital. Police said all three were doing well.
Baden-Wuerttemberg police said two motorists were killed and one seriously injured in separate accidents by crashing into trees that toppled across roads.
A motorcyclist was killed near Duesseldorf in North-Rhine Westphalia state; and in Paris, a falling chimney killed one passerby and injured another.
In Switzerland, a 21-year-old motorist died in Thurgau, and winds blew several trucks and mobile homes off highways, police reported.
In Belgium, a woman was killed and two people were injured by a tree falling onto their car.
Throughout Germany, from Saarland state in the southwest to Brandenburg and Saxony state in the east, police reported trees blocking highways and rail lines, and homes and cars heavily damaged. Electricity was cut off to many towns hit by the storm.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB