(USNewsBreak.com) – Christmas is the holiday for celebrating and decorating. Many people around the world put up and adorn festive trees with ornaments, garland, and lights so they can stack presents under them. However, a recent storm in Europe wreaked havoc in several countries, killing at least two people and injuring others.
The week before Christmas, a strong storm system, dubbed Pia, brought blustering winds of up to 115 mph and heavy rains to northern Europe, resulting in at least two tragedies. At a market in Oudenaarde, Belgium, a 66-foot tree decorated for the holiday collapsed, injuring two people and killing a 63-year-old woman, on Thursday, December 21. Officials immediately closed the market following the tragedy.
Woman killed by a falling Christmas tree in Belgium amid European storms https://t.co/TAvnqrwFzW
— KMET1490AM (@KMETRadio) December 22, 2023
The incident remains under investigation. Belgian authorities are looking to determine whether the tree was adequately secured and how Storm Pia impacted its collapse.
That wasn’t the only damage, though. A falling tree killed another woman in the Netherlands. She sustained serious injuries on Thursday and passed away the next day. Additionally, first responders had to take an Englishman to the hospital after a tree fell on his car while he was in it.
In Germany, the storm played havoc on Christmas travelers’ plans. The storm caused train delays, cancellations, or redirections when trees fell and blocked tracks or damaged wires around them. Germany also experienced floods as the Elbe River overflowed and flooded streets in Hamburg.
Floods also affected the Netherlands, where water inundated Dutch North Sea towns in Scheveningen and other locales. Authorities canceled or delayed flights and train services in the UK, and in Scotland, ferries stopped running temporarily during the storm. MS Maud, a Norwegian cruise ship heading toward Tilbury, an English port, diverted to Bremerhaven, Germany, after it hit a rogue wave and lost power. Fortunately, nobody onboard reported injuries from the incident.
Flights and rail services took a few days to straighten out, but schedules began running normally again on Friday.
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