A hurricane in the Dutch coastal city of Zierikzee on Monday left at least one dead and seven injured, the first deadly event of its kind in three decades.
Officials in the southwestern state of Zeeland said, “There is substantial damage to some streets in Zierikzee. In addition to the falling tiles and trees, the roofs of four houses were also torn off.”
“In addition to the fatal victim, a total of 7 people were injured. One was taken to the hospital by ambulance, the others were treated at the scene,” he said.
According to the local newspaper Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant, the deceased was a tourist who was struck on the head with a tile in the city’s harbor area.
In particular, tiles in a church were blown away by the wind and trampolines were blown through the air, state television NOS reported.
Images circulating on social media show debris being carried away by a swirling column of air and a large white cloud funnel against a dark sky as people park their cars or exit restaurant tables to watch the show.
According to the Dutch news agency ANP, Maurice van den Nouweland, who lives in Zierikzee, said, “The hurricane is getting bigger. It reminded me of American movies with storm chasers.”
“The room was like being sucked in,” said Douwe Ouwerkerk, another person who was home when the hurricane hit.
He stated that he saw “tile, garden pool, something resembling a tent” floating in the air.
According to a local association, at least 20 accommodation has become temporarily uninhabitable and authorities have established a shelter for the victims.
He added that one of the injured was a worker who was renovating one of these barracks.
Emergency services teams urged the public not to approach the area because of the tiles and trees that could still fall, so as not to complicate the job of the police and firefighters.
The Netherlands suffers from several hurricanes each year, but the last to cause deaths date back to 1992, while the others date back to 1967, 1972 and 1981, according to the Dutch meteorological agency KNMI.
“Hurricanes are rare in our country,” he said on the KNMI website.
“The area where these occur is usually no larger than a narrow strip of two to several tens of kilometers long and several hundred meters wide,” the agency said.
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source: Noticias
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