Power cuts, injuries: Storm Eunice batters northern France
The storm caused widespread disruptions to transport links, damage to property and electricity cuts. Eight people in the Nord have sustained serious injuries
Storm Eunice hit France's northern coast with strong winds on FridayJaromir Chalabala / Shutterstock
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Winds of over 160km/h were recorded in parts of northern France yesterday as Storm Eunice battered the coastline.
It caused disruptions to traffic around towns and cities in the north, as well as damage to properties and streets. There are no reports of casualties in France, but nine people around Europe are reported to have died.
In the Nord (Hauts-de-France), eight people sustained serious injuries and 17 people minor injuries, linked to 鈥渞oad accidents, falls or falling materials鈥�, the Nord prefecture reported.
France鈥檚 Interior Minister G茅rald Darmanin said yesterday (February 18) that the event would be classified as a 鈥渘atural disaster鈥� for insurance purposes.
A power cut hit around 160,000 homes in the north of the country yesterday, Franceinfo reported.
Enedis, the electricity grid management service, reported that it sent 700 technicians to the area to handle the problem and that it had been able to restore power to many.
Around 85,000 homes were still without electricity by 20:00 last night. The Connexion has not been able to establish if there are still homes without power this morning (February 19).
Waves of over nine metres were observed off the coast of Brittany yesterday, M茅t茅o-France stated.
馃搳 Quelques valeurs mesur茅es au cours des 6 derni猫res heures : * 139 km/h 脿 Calais (62) * 131 km/h 脿 Dunkerque (59) * 128 km/h 脿 Lille (59) * 122 km/h 脿 Cherbourg (50) * 117 km/h au Touquet (62) * 115 km/h au Havre (76)
— M茅t茅o-France (@meteofrance)
The five departments that were placed on orange alert for strong winds yesterday - Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Seine-Maritime and Manche - have now been downgraded to yellow, meaning 鈥渂e attentive鈥�.
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In total, 23 departments in France are on yellow alert today, with all of France鈥檚 northern coastline on alert for strong winds.
23 departments in France are on yellow alert on Saturday (February 19) Pic: Screenshot / M茅teo-France
SNCF has announced that "numerous parts of its infrastructure have been damaged" on the TER lines in Hauts-de-France. It said that a return to normal services will be gradual over the course of Saturday.
However, certain lines have not been affected, including Paris-Amiens, Paris-St Quentin, Paris-Laon, Paris-Beauvais and Creil-Beauvais.
The city of Lille and the surrounding towns were also badly impacted.
Flights were yesterday suspended from Lille Airport. Anyone flying to or from the airport today should check their flights in advance.
en raison de la temp锚te , toutes nos op茅rations sont actuellement suspendues : ni d茅collage ni atterrissage ne sont d茅sormais pr茅vus avant 18:00
— Aeroport de Lille鉁� (@Aeroport_Lille)
Similarly, all bus routes in Lille were suspended due to obstacles on the road.
La temp锚te 脿 fait des ravages ! Les vents de la temp锚te ont couch茅s un arbre dans le secteur de bloquant la circulation !
— G酶tborg (@gotborgmusic)
Saint-Andr茅-lez-Lille, a town near to Lille, published a picture on its Twitter of a crane that had overturned due to the winds.
鈿狅笍 Une grue du chantier Quai 22 s'est effondr茅e suite aux fortes rafales de vent de la temp锚te , bloquant l'acc猫s au Pont de l'Abbaye Plusieurs branches sont tomb茅es sur la chauss茅e, pouvant g锚ner la circulation. Soyez prudents et si possible, limitez vos d茅placements.
— Ville de Saint-Andr茅 (@StAndre59350)
The storm has now moved further east into Europe, but strong winds are still expected early Saturday morning.
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