News of: Thursday, January 18 2007,
An unusually heavy causes problems in Amsterdam. The Central Station has been closed down and evacuated by the police.
Because of the strong winds there was so much material of the nearby construction site flying around, that the entire station was evacuated and closed. It is reported that parts of the glass roof of the station has come down.
The Amsterdam fire brigade has issued an advice to not go outside unless absolutely necessary.
Dozens of trees have fallen, and branches of trees are flying around. The Vondelpark has been closed down entirely.
Planes at Schiphol airport experience delays, as only two runways can be used.
On several places in Amsterdam and in other places in the country damage has been reported such as fallen trees and damage to buildings.
The whole day there have been more traffic jams than normal, and also public transport is having trouble because of the storm. Train traffic around Amsterdam has virtually come to a standstill. Several bus companies in the country have cancelled operations.
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Update 9.16pm:
All train traffic in the country has been cancelled due to the weather. Authorities in Amsterdam and Utrecht have organized emergency accommodation. Amsterdam has arranged this in the RAI congress centre.
The storm is expected to weaken in the course of the evening.
Many flight from Schiphol airport are still cancelled or severely delayed.
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Update midnight:
The weather alarm has been revoked, as the storm has subsided. There are still strong winds, but not really serious any more.
Thousands of passengers are stranded. On Schiphol Airport several hundreds of passengers were given food and beds to spend the night. This also happened for stranded train passengers in Amsterdam, who were accommodated in the RAI Congress Centre.
For tomorrow morning there are delays expected for the trains, as the fallen trees and other debris still has to be removed from the rail tracks.
