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January 11, 2005
Weather Story
Major storm wreaks havoc on Sweden, Denmark
www.chinaview.cn 2005-01-11 00:35:20
STOCKHOLM, Jan. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Hurricane strength winds whipped across Sweden and Denmark over the weekend, leaving at least 11 people dead, seven of them in Sweden, as road and rail traffic was disrupted in the deadliest storm since 1969.
The powerful storm also left more than 400,000 homes in southern Sweden without power, with 200,000 of them still dark on Monday morning.
Electricity companies Sydkraft, Vattenfall and Fortum said the power grid would not be completely repaired for a week, Radio Sweden reported on Monday.
Minister of Housing and Energy Mona Sahlin is calling for an investigation as to why Sweden is not able to handle the fallout in such situations. She is also calling for power lines to be buried underground at a faster rate.
Damage was estimated at 500 million Swedish kronor (72 million US dollars), according to insurance group Laensfoersaekringar.
In Denmark, some 16,500 homes were still without power on Monday, including 12,500 in the Copenhagen region, while damage in the entire country was estimated at one billion Danish kronor (176million US dollars).
A winter storm lashed Denmark Saturday with 100-mile-per-hour gusts and steady winds of up to 75-miles-per-hour hitting the northwest coast of Jutland. The storm caused four deaths and knocked out electric power to 100,000 homes.
Train, bus and air service was halted, bridges were closed and police asked everyone to stay indoors for their own safety because of flying debris.
