Third storm in five days brings down more trees, 87 crows killed in Groningen

Clearing up the dead crows. Photo: Dierenambulance Groningen via Facebook

Storm Franklin, the third storm to hit the Netherlands in five days, brought down more trees overnight, damaging cars nationwide and a supermarket in Maastricht.

In Hilversum, railway services were halted for at time because parts of the station roof had come loose in the gales, while there were problems on the A4 between Bergen op Zoom-Zuid and Hoogerheide, closing the route to the Belgian border.

Several sluice gates have also been closed because of high water levels. In Rotterdam, for example, officials expect the water level to reach 2.5 metres above NAP on Monday morning because of the high tide and strong winds, and some areas were closed to cars because of the risk of flooding.

In Groningen, at least 87 crows were killed when the tree they were roosting in plunged to the ground in a freak accident.

Animal ambulance crews were confronted by the dead and dying birds when they were called to the village of Helperzoom by a local who had seen the tree go down. Some birds were killed by the falling tree, others drowned after they ended up in the water.

Birds with light injuries were taken to the nearby animal shelter to recover but a number of birds with more serious injuries had to be put down.

The KNMI weather bureau says it will remain windy for the rest of the day with some showers. Tuesday, however, will be dry for much of the day, with sunny spells.

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