Dramatic moment bus swept away in French river after huge rainfall
October 20, 2023Dramatic moment a bus is swept away in flooded French river after huge rainfall from Storm Aline – as northern Europe faces a battering from Storm Babet
- Danish meteorologists issued their highest warning for ‘very dangerous weather’
This is the dramatic moment a bus is swept away in a flooded French river after huge rainfall from Storm Aline – as northern Europe faces a battering from Storm Babet.
Gale-force winds and floods struck several countries in northern Europe as the region endured more heavy rain today that forecasters say will continue into the weekend.
Danish meteorologists issued their highest warning for ‘very dangerous weather’ and said levels of some inland waters were expected to rise up to 240 centimetres (nearly eight feet) above normal.
At midday today, a yellow bus was swept down a river in Saint-Martin-Vésubie in southern France.
Video shows it passing other buses parked on the bank during high water levels, with half of the vehicle submerged as it comes to a halt.
At midday today, a yellow bus was swept down a river in Saint-Martin-Vésubie in southern France.
Video shows it passing other buses parked on the bank during high water levels with half of the vehicle submerged as it becomes lodged and comes to a halt
Shortly after 9am, two bridges gave way in Saint-Martin-Vésubie – the Maïssa bridge and the Trois Ponts bridge, French news broadcast television and radio network BFM TV reports.
A few minutes earlier, Anthony Borré, vice-president (Horizons) of the Nice metropolis, had confirmed to BFM Nice Côte d’Azur that the structures were ‘in difficulty’. Several adjoining roads also failed to withstand Storm Aline.
Borré added that that ‘nerve points (were) extremely threatened’.
Most of the residents had left the area upstream at the request of the authorities.
‘We are evacuating a building,’ Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice, said in the morning.
No injuries or missing people have been reported at this stage.
Strong gusts of wind on the island of Bornholm’s northern coast in Allinge, Denmark, Friday Oct. 20 2023
A man walks his dog as waves crash against Bornholm’s northern coast in Denmark on October 20, 2023, after a weather warning was issued for the area
In Scotland at least two people were reported to have died as a result of the bad weather, while a plane in the north of England skidded off a runway.
The winds are expected to hit hardest in the eastern part of Denmark’s Jutland peninsula and the Danish islands in the Baltic Sea.
On X, formerly Twitter, the Danish Meteorological Institute said it expects water levels ‘to exceed the 100-year event in several places.’
Police in southern Denmark – the Danish region expected to be the worst hit – said a number of sections of road in low-lying areas were flooded and some trees had fallen.
Police said a dike was breached and urged people to immediately leave Sandersvig Strand on the Jutland peninsula.
The northern part of the British Isles, southern Sweden and Norway, and northern Germany are also in the path of the storm, named Babet by the Met Office.
Eastern Scotland continued to bear the brunt of the stormy weather.
On Friday, the Met Office issued a new ‘red’ warning, its highest, for parts of the region through Saturday.
‘This is not usual autumn weather,’ said Andy Page, the Met’s chief meteorologist. ‘This is an exceptional event, and we are likely to continue to see significant impacts with the potential for further flooding and damage to properties.’
SOUTH SHIELDS: Huge waves crash into South Shields pier and lighthouse on Friday. The top of the lighthouse has been torn off in the storm
DUNDEE: Flood waters surround cars and houses along Heron Rise after the nearby Dighty Water broke its banks
A 57-year-old woman died on Thursday after being swept into a river in the region of Angus, where hundreds of homes were evacuated.
Also on Thursday, a 56-year-old man died after his van hit a falling tree in the same area. A police spokesperson also said they were informed Thursday of a man in a vehicle trapped in floodwaters in nearby Marykirk.
Though forecasters said the worst of the heavy rain in Scotland had passed, they warned that conditions will remain difficult, with river levels still on the rise and flood defenses breached.
Some parts of the town of Brechin are only accessible by boat after its flood defenses were overwhelmed by the heavy rainfall, raising concerns about further loss of life.
‘I cannot stress how dangerous conditions are in Brechin in particular,’ said Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf.
Wind gusts in excess of 60 mph (100 kph) were likely on Friday. Several major road sections and rail routes were closed in Scotland, while air passengers were facing flight cancellations.
The storm has already brought more than a month’s worth of rain in the worst-affected regions in Scotland and was pummeling many parts of northern England on Friday.
A member of the Danish Emergency Management Agency works to build defences against the rising flood waters at Kelstrup Strand near Haderslev, southern Denmark on October 19, 2023
Flooded on the beach meadows by the houses on Vastergatan in Skanor. In the port of Skanor it is blowing strongly and the sea has risen by 1.2 meters on Friday afternoon, October 20, 2023
At Leeds Bradford Airport, a flight arriving from the Greek island of Corfu slid off the runway while landing.
‘We are working with the airline, relevant operations teams and emergency authorities to address this situation and remove passengers from the aircraft safely,’ a spokesperson for the airport said.
In northeastern England, a lighthouse at the mouth of the River Tyne lost its distinctive red and white dome.
Port of Tyne officials said it was not yet safe to assess the damage to the South Shields lighthouse while weather conditions remained dangerous.
In Sweden, meteorologists warned of the risk of extensive flooding which may cause limited access on roads and railways along the southern coasts of the Scandinavian country. Water levels were expected to begin dropping again on Saturday morning, Swedish meteorologists said.
A bridge near Norway’s second-largest city was protectively closed, the Bergens Tidende newspaper said. Ferries across the region were canceled and air traffic was hampered, with delays and a few cancellations.
The Swedish Transportation Authority suspended service of several train and bus lines in southern Sweden, because of the weather, prompting Skanetrafiken, the operator of the local transit system, to recommend ‘avoiding travel on public transport’.
‘Some regional bus routes will be canceled and there is a risk that both regional and replacement buses in service may also be canceled at short notice,’ Skanetrafiken said on its website.
In Germany, some streets and squares were flooded in the cities of Flensburg, Kiel and Wismar on the Baltic coast. Fallen trees caused some disruption, including a railway line.
Ferry operator Scandlines suspended services on its Roedby-Puttgarden and Gedser-Rostock routes between Denmark and Germany.
On Germany’s North Sea coast, the high winds had the opposite effect to the flooding on the Baltic coast, pushing the water further out and leading to very low water levels. Ferries to some North Sea islands were cancelled.
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