Storm wreaks up to €10 million in damage

The storm that caused travel havoc and a death in Belgium wreaked up to €10 million in damage in the Netherlands, reported NOS on Friday.

A spokesman from the Dutch Association of Insurers said it was bad, but not exceptional, telling the national broadcaster: ‘The exact amount [of damage] is not yet known but it will be under €10 million.’

On Thursday afternoon and evening, code orange warnings were put in place by the weather service, and the Netherlands felt gusts of up to 120kph as ‘storm Doris’ moved from the UK across the Channel.

A FlyBe passenger plane from Edinburgh crash landed at Schiphol airport when part of its undercarriage ‘collapsed’ in the bad weather, causing no injuries but shutting the runways temporarily.

A silo containing about 3,000 cubic metres of manure was tipped over by the storm in Aalten, Gelderland. The area was shut off due to ammonia fumes and the resulting pollution could lead to fish death in a nearby stream, according to local reports.

Train platforms in Almere and Amsterdam were temporarily closed due to building material threatening to come loose, and there were 1,250 reports of storm damage to the emergency services.

VRT broadcaster said that the storm killed one person and seriously injured two others in Belgium. Meanwhile, Dutch transport minister Melanie Schultz told RTL Nieuws that truckers who take to the road during storms – and then cause accidents – are simply ‘antisocial’.

‘They cause a lot of damage, which society and insurance companies have to pay for,’ she reportedly said, citing 15 accidents involving trucks and trailers on Thursday afternoon.

But the Dutch Association of Insurers added that in March or April, such a storm would have worse effects as there would be more leaves on the trees.

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