Yesterday, a severe winter wind storm tore through Western Europe. The gusts in Holland were in the neighborhood of 120km per hour! An article in this morning's International Herald Tribune reports this as the worst storm since 2002. The craziest thing about it (from my perspective, anyway) was the temperature. A severe winter storm in January in Europe and the temperatures were in the low 50s (Fahrenheit)! If it weren't for the wind (and yes, I know the wind was the issue), we wouldn't have needed coats. Amazing.
Apparently, the storm caused significant damage in this part of the world. A tree fell on some parked cars in Amsterdam, and two people were killed. From Germany to the UK, reports run from 10 to 27 deaths, and thousands were stranded as flights and trains were disrupted. We noticed that the winds even affected tram travel yesterday when Markus tried leaving the office. The company had advised employees to leave early to avoid heaviest traffic, anticipating serious trouble with the evening commute. It was incredible to hear the wind tearing through the city at intervals (more gusty than constant). Our friend Tony, visiting for the week, accused us of bringing hurricanes with us wherever we go and seemed surprised we hadn't managed to bring one to Qatar. Maybe we didn't stay long enough.
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