Any thoughts re impact of grid storm damage on y2k??

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[For educational purposes only]

Tuesday, December 28 7:37 PM SGT

France reels after second deadly storm in two days PARIS, Dec 28 (AFP) - Millions of French awoke without electricity Tuesday and thousands of travellers were stranded after two powerful storms lashed the country in as many days, leaving more than 50 dead and ravaging homes, forests and architectural treasures.

Authorities reported 17 new deaths Monday night when gale-force winds gusting up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) per hour lashed the southwest of the country.

Nearly 40 people were killed as high winds struck the north and east of the country on Sunday before continuing across Europe in the region's worst storm on record. More than 45 people died in Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.

Five people were reported missing in France's Bordeaux region after Monday night's tempest and at least 60 were injured, officials said.

The country's power grid was devastated by the storms, with electricity to 3.4 million homes cut off early Tuesday and litte hope of restoring much of the service before the weekend, the state utility EDF said.

As temperatures in some areas dropped to freezing, Jean-Pierre Bourdier, a spokesman for Electricite de France, said 36 high-voltage lines were out of service, representing a quarter of the national grid.

Rail traffic in the southwest was at a standstill, forcing around 10,000 stranded travellers to spend the night in train stations or hotels, authorities said.

Rail travel was also still seriously disrupted in the north due to trees and other debris blocking the tracks.

Trains carrying vacationers from around Paris to alpine ski resorts were running with delays, but high-speed TGV service to London, Brussels, and Amsterdam was back to normal, the state rail authority, SNCF, said.

Most of the deaths and injuries were caused by falling trees, but one person suffered a heart attack and a fisherman was reported lost at sea along with his vessel, officials said.

The storms also caused extensive damage to homes and businesses.

The roofers and plumbers union estimated that 500 million francs (76 million euros/dollars) of damage was done to private property in the capital alone, 10 times greater than in the last major storm in 1990.

Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, who toured storm-hit areas in Paris and its suburbs on Monday, travelled early Tuesday to the port city of La Rochelle, one of the sites hardest hit on Monday.

He also visited the islands of Groix and Belle-Ile to inspect damage from an oil spill from the the tanker Erika, which broke in two and sank in heavy seas on December 12.

High winds from the weekend storms spread the oil over large sections of the coastline and seriously hampered cleanup efforts.

Air France also cancelled about 10 percent of its flights, mainly to southern cities, but also to Geneva, central France and Corsica.

Fallen trees and power lines blocked roads and highways across the country, while falling tempertures and heavy snowfall added to problems in eastern regions around Metz and Strasbourg.

In Paris, swelling of the Seine river forced officials to close express roads running alongside and halt barge traffic.

The French capital faced a gargantuan repair task, just as it prepared to host mammoth New Year's celebrations.

The list of damaged buildings read like an A-Z of the region's architectural treasures: the Versailles chateau, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Pantheon, Sainte Chapelle and six historic churches suffered extensive damage.

An estimated 10,000 trees, including one planted by Napoleon Bonaparte, were blown down in the grounds of Versailles, while strips of lead were torn off the roof of the chateau itself.

150,000 trees -- half the total -- were uprooted in the capital's Vincennes and Boulogne woods.

The national weather service predicted that winds of up to 140 kilometers (88 miles) an hour would continue to sweep Corsica and the Mediterranean coast Tuesday, and forecast freezing temperatures and snow for the northeast.

Elsewhere, lighter winds and above-freezing temperatures were expected, which would allow the massive clean-up effort to make some headway.

-- Paul (Paul@bina.com), December 28, 1999

Answers

Paul, Do you have a URL for that? Thanks much. Ken.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), December 28, 1999.

Like Venezuaela Paul, its come at the worst possible time...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), December 28, 1999.

Do we need to point out that it's a LESS than 3 day storm??

I didn't thinkk so.

Night train

-- jes an ol footballer (nighttr@ain.lane), December 28, 1999.

God bless those who didn't prepare. Those who did, are likely warmer than their counterparts!!!

-- tt (cuddluppy@nowhere.com), December 28, 1999.

come on, just a little irony -- let's email this to kosky and say, "so is this the three day storm we are preparing for??"

-- tt (cuddluppy@nowhere.com), December 28, 1999.

See also previous post:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0027l7

and there is this from the BBC:

Tuesday, 28 December, 1999, 12:35 GMT Paris storms threaten millennium chaos

Versailles was particularly hard hit

Paris is racing to clear up after Sunday's devastating storm which is threatening to jeopardise the city's millennium celebrations.

Many historical buildings in the French capital were damaged and tens of thousands of trees were uprooted in some of the worst gales in living memory.

The rail authorities say train services will not return to normal before the end of the year.

''The damage is considerable,'' said Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot. "Road, rail and air routes are affected. We are really in great difficulty.''

And the disruption continued on Tuesday as the River Seine burst its banks flooding roads and walkways.

Officials in Paris, which is expecting millions of revellers for the millennium, have asked the government to declare the city a ''natural disaster area'' as a way of funnelling additional funds into the clearing-up operation.

Paris Mayor Jean Tiberi said urgent repair work would be done quickly, and predicted that millennium parties in the city would not be disrupted.

A giant ferris wheel set up for the new year festivities in the Place de la Concorde has survived the storms unharmed.

Damage bill

France bore the brunt of the tornado-strength winds which ravaged much of western Europe on Sunday.

Some 60,000 trees were uprooted or damaged in two forests on the outskirts of Paris, and another 2,000 along the city's streets.

The National Fund for Historic Sites and Monuments estimates it will cost $62m to $77m to repair cultural monuments.

Worst hit was the royal palace at Versailles, just outside the capital, which suffered damage to its roof and windows.

Around 7,000 trees were blown over in the grounds, including one planted by Napolean Bonaparte.

Roofing was also torn off Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and a stained-glass window at the Sainte-Chapelle was shattered.

Along the city streets, traffic lights are bent and newspaper kiosks have been knocked over.

A second storm hit France on Monday with winds gusting across the south-west of the country at speeds of more than 200km/h (125mph).

There are more stories at the site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_581000/581056.stm

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), December 28, 1999.

Night train, you took the words right out of my mind.

Jeepers.

We've had below zero nights lately, and will have til Thursday, when it supposed to turn to RAIN then back to snow on Friday.

Can anybody say Ice Storm???

-- Arewyn (isitth@latealready.com), December 28, 1999.

So - is this an unofficial "one-day" storm, an "official" three-day storm, or the beginings of a "I don't know how many days but I sure am uncomfortable" storm?

-- Robert A Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), December 28, 1999.

This is also a country that is considered to be vulnerable in the power department. Timing sucks. sad...

-- Nancy (wellsnl@hotmail.com), December 28, 1999.

Inconceivable number of downed trees. Tragic. Lotsa firewood though. Will help in the coming months. Except it won't be dry wood. Takes scores, sometimes 100s, of years to build treasures of city arboretums and forests.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), December 28, 1999.

This is a sad day indeed. Our prayers should go out for those in need. When y2k hits, and compounds the problem I fear we will witness a very great trajedy.

-- Interested Spectator (is@the_ring.side), December 28, 1999.

Trees yes, a great loss indeed. But Versailles was built on the backs of peasant starvation for generations. "...who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in his garment? What is his name and what is his son's name, if thou can'st tell..."From Proverbs 30:4. Even Jesus himself failed to estimate the wrath of the (banks) moneychangers in the temple. They crucified him for his audacity in attempting to abolish the prime lending rate. Take heed & take cover!

-- Lorelei the Pagan (mermaid@rhineroc.com), December 28, 1999.

I wish that more had prepared in France...as do they, no doubt!

The timing is indeed a bummer...they may not be back up in time for the grid to go down Saturday... This will indeed curtail any last minute remediation and preparation that was planned.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), December 28, 1999.