European storm turns deadly and threatens worst tidal surge in decades [View all]

Source: Raw Story/Agence France-Presse



By Agence France-Presse
Friday, December 6, 2013 7:46 EST

A fierce storm battered northern Europe with hurricane force winds Thursday, leaving five people dead or missing, disrupting travel and forcing thousands to flee their homes over fears of the worst tidal surge in decades.

British authorities evacuated 15,000 homes as flooding started on the North Sea coast while Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden all boosted their flood defenses.

Winds of up to 142 miles per hour were recorded in Scotland and Britain’s environment agency said the “surge along the east coast of England is expected to be the worst for more than 60 years.”

John Curtin, the Environment Agency’s head of incident management, said: “Flooding of coastal communities along the eastern and north west coasts is expected into Friday. Some defences could be overtopped by the combined effect of high tides, high winds and a large tidal surge.”

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/06/european-storm-turns-deadly-and-threatens-worst-tidal-surge-in-decades/