Cyclone Klaus

Hurricane Klaus was a powerful winter storm to 25 January 2009 the north of Spain, southwest France and parts of Italy met on 23 and caused significant damage. The storm caused at least 32 people were killed directly. The traffic was spread interrupted or impeded. Météo -France described the damage comparable to that hurricane Lothar wreaked on 26 and 27 December 1999. In Spain it was the most violent storm since 1997.

Storm History

The formation region of Hurricane Klaus ( terming the FU Berlin) was in the Atlantic Ocean north of the Azores. The cyclogenesis was explosive because of the calculation model of the Spanish Meteorological Service of the difference in air pressure was 34 hPa within twenty-four hours. In latitudes where the Iberian Peninsula, one speaks of an "explosive cyclogenesis " when the air pressure difference is more than about 19-20 hPa. The storm then moved across the Bay of Biscay. Its center crossed the coast of France near Bordeaux on January 24 at 5:00 CET clock and then migrated from west to southeast across the south west of France of time. The hurricane hit with gusts of 170 km / h on the Atlantic coast and reached the hill country of the départements of Aude and Pyrenees Orientales 190 km / h

The storm then moved across the Côte d' Azur across the Gulf of Genoa, where he arrived on 25 January at 12:00 clock. The storm then lost over the Italian peninsula.

And ... on the Bay of Biscay on 24 January, 03:28 CET clock.

Effects

The effects of the Stum were from the Channel Islands to southern Germany and in the north and south to Algeria and Sicily noticeable. The strongest storm was out in south-west France, where especially the regions of Aquitaine, Languedoc -Roussillon and Midi- Pyrénées were affected and in northern Spain Catalonia and the Basque Country. The storm brought heavy rain. The peak gusts was recorded 216 km / h on the Coll d' Envalira in Andorra, the highest in France was measured in Formiguà in the Département Pyrénées Orientales with 193 km / h, the maximum value in Spain in Cerezo de Arriba was at 198 km / h

At some stations in France the hurricane reached a strength that surpassed all values ​​previously measured there. In Perpignan about the anemometer had a Spitzenbö after that with 184 km / h the value that was measured during the hurricane Lothar, exceeded by 44 km / h in the Bordeaux Spitzenbö to 15 km / h was stronger than during Lothar. New records also reported weather stations in Saint -Paul -de- Fenouillet, Biscarrosse, Bordeaux, Narbonne, Pointe de Socoa and Biarritz.

After the catastrophic consequences of hurricane Lothar in 1999, which killed 88 people in France, and Météo -France used the alert system Meteo alarm to warn the public more effectively ( to identify the warning level, the system uses the color green = no risk of yellow, orange and red = highest risk ). It was taken in October 2001. During the passage of the hurricane Météo -France triggered the alert level red for nine departments. This was indeed the fourth triggering this warning level since 2001, due to a wind event but this took place for the first time.

Many railway lines were due to lying on the rails due to damaged trees and overhead lines out of service. Affected the TGV line between Paris and Bordeaux, as well as the connections Bordeaux - Agen -Toulouse, Tarbes -Toulouse, Paris -Toulouse, Toulouse -Montpellier, Bordeaux - Perigueux and Bordeaux - Hendaye as well as numerous branch lines. Flight operations at the airports in southwest France, including the international airports of Bordeaux and Toulouse, had to be set during the height of the storm.

The winds damaged houses, brought trees to fall over and tore down power lines. The French electricity network and the telephone network of France Telecom was interrupted by the hurricane regional basis; more than 350,000 fixed lines in south-west France were disrupted after the passage of Orlan Klaus on the day. The mobile network was also disturbed because antenna systems were damaged by the hurricane or were without power. Between 25 % and 75% of customers were not available depending on the department.

During the height of the storm fell in France from the power supply to 1.7 million consumers in the most affected regions. In France, the secondary network between the Umspannungsstationen and consumers is usually applied above ground. The blackout began, more than 400 level level crossings out of service because the signal systems and barrier systems no longer functioned and also caused dropouts in the supply of drinking water, thousands of whom in the Landes department and around 5000 people in the department of la Dordogne were affected.

The first estimate of the Fédération française des sociétés d'assurances ( FFSA ) - the French Association of insurance companies - the profit of the damage in France at several hundred million euros.

The forests of Aquitaine were strongly affected, especially the pine forests of the Landes département and around the Bassin d' Arcachon are damaged to 60-80%. Many of these forests have been reforested after the ravages of Lothar and Martin, who moved in late December 1999 through the region. Some 34,000 residents of the region to work in the forestry industry, which has an annual turnover of 2.6 billion euros. In Aquitaine have 40,000 forest owners for more than 4 hectares of forest. Of the 1.7 million hectares of forest in the region around one million hectares is monokulturistisch covered with maritime pines. Lothar had destroyed 240,000 hectares of forest in 1999, France and the European Union after paid 250 million euros in grants and compensations from.

As a result of the hurricane occurred in the area's many rivers burst their banks.

In Spain, were power outages affected about 50,000 customers, mostly in Galicia, where 36,600 customers were without power, as well as 11,000 and about 2000 in the Basque Country. According to the information of the network operator REE 17 high-voltage lines in the north of the country were affected by the outages. In Galicia, the hurricane broke the telephone connection for 45,000 customers, 384 mobile stations were disturbed there. More than 200 municipalities reported incidents, mostly fallen trees and poles of power lines.

Due to the collapse of a high-voltage line, it came in the province of Alicante to a spark caused by forest fire.

Loss figures

According to the Munich Reinsurance Company of hurricane damage Klaus taught at a total value of U.S. $ 3.8 billion equivalent, of which $ 2.3 billion was insured.

In Europe, came through the storm at least 30 people were killed; Foothills of the storm in North Africa killed two more people.

Spain

• The collapse of a sports facility in Sant Boi de Llobregat southwest of Barcelona on January 24, four children were killed and injured 16 other people. They had sought refuge in the hall before the storm, as the strong wind moved the roof and so brought a wall to collapse.
• A policeman at Burela in Galicia and a road worker in La Palma de Cervello in the province of Barcelona were killed by trees.
• A woman in Barcelona and a man in Aigues de Campello in Alicante province were killed by For wall falls.
• The Portuguese captain of the cargo ship Braga died after he and his crew were rescued 77 miles northeast of La Coruña distress.

France

• Two motorists were killed by falling trees in the Landes department or in the south of France. FLYING debris killed another man.
• A woman from the Landes department, died as a result of hypothermia.
• In the department of la Gironde a woman died because her ventilator stopped operating due to power failure.
• Two elderly people died in Nanteuil- Auriac -de- Bourzac, Dordogne, to carbon monoxide poisoning by an emergency generator; the same cause, the death of two hikers in Port- Barcarès, department of Pyrénées- Orientales.

Italy

• A woman was carried away on the Amalfi Coast between waves when she went for a walk by the sea.
• By a landslide three occupants of a vehicle on the Reggio Calabria -Salerno motorway spilled ..

Algeria

• The foothills of the storm brought in Sétif in eastern Algeria, a wall to collapse, which two people were killed.

Germany

• A man was killed by a collapsing barn in Gerabronn.
• A motorist died as a result of storm -related traffic accident.

Relief

Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF ) has approximately 3000 high voltage electrician sent to the region, some of which are from Portugal, the United Kingdom and Germany were brought. France Télécom has mobilized about 3,000 technicians to eliminate the harm to the telephone network.

The French government sent 700 soldiers of the defense area southwest to the affected areas to assist in clearing the roads of fallen trees and other debris. The affected region was declared a disaster area. President Nicolas Sarkozy called for by the insurance companies " not only a lot of compensation, but also speed in the settlement ."