Strong winds disrupt flights, injure dozens in Spain
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A pedestrian holding a dog walks past a fallen palm tree in Barcelona on Feb 12.
PHOTO: AFP
- Storm Nils battered Catalonia with powerful winds exceeding 100kmh on Feb 12, injuring 86 people and forcing school closures.
- Barcelona's El Prat airport cancelled 101 flights; rail and road lines were disrupted. Authorities called it "exceptional" and urged limited movement.
- The storm also caused a fatality in France and flooding in Portugal. Scientists link such extreme weather to climate change and rising emissions.
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BARCELONA - Powerful winds topping 100kmh per hour battered Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia on Feb 12, injuring 86 people – three of them seriously – and forcing school closures and flight restrictions.
Storm Nils comes on the heels of three other episodes of extreme weather
Gusts reached 105kmh at Barcelona port, toppling trees and walls and prompting dozens of emergency calls, the Catalan civil protection agency said.
A total of 86 people required medical attention, with 34 taken to hospitals, the agency said.
Among them, two remain in serious condition and one in critical condition.
At Barcelona’s El Prat airport – Spain’s second busiest – 101 flights were cancelled and 10 diverted, airport operator Aena said.
Some roads and rail lines were also disrupted.
The strong wind episode was “exceptional” for Barcelona and its metropolitan area, said the director of Catalonia’s meteorological service, Sarai Sarroca.
Authorities in the region of around eight million residents suspended classes and non-urgent medical appointments, urging people to limit movement until the evening of Feb 12 when winds were expected to calm.
Pedestrians walking along the shore against the wind in Barcelona, on Feb 12.
PHOTO: AFP
By reducing their travel, people helped prevent a higher number of accidents, the head of the region’s interior department, Ms Nuria Parlon, told a news conference.
The storm also hit parts of neighbouring Portugal and France.
In Portugal, flooding partially collapsed a highway viaduct between Lisbon and Porto when a river burst its banks.
The stretch of motorway had already been closed before it collapsed.
In southwestern France, a truck driver was killed by a falling tree and some 900,000 homes were without power.
Scientists say the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is due to climate change linked to rising greenhouse gas emissions. AFP
