One dead, wide spread damage after worst summer storm ever

On Saturday the Netherlands was hit by the largest summer storm since the weather measurements started in 1901. One person died after a tree fell on his car and several other people were wounded. The storm resulted in closed highways, dozens of delayed flights, delays in public transport and a significant amount of damage. In Amsterdam the emergency call center Amsterdam-Amstelland received about 1,500 calls during and after the storm, the Telegraaf reports. The fire department responded to about 300 calls of storm damage. Two people were injured when a fallen tree landed on a car and had to be taken to the hospital. All through Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning the fire brigade was busy clearing away fallen trees, fallen branches, loos sliding, planking and road signs. The tram traffic in the capital was also "severely disrupted", transport company GVB told the Volkskrant. On Saturday night 15 points on the tram line were affected by the storm and only tram 26 ran without problems. Overhead lines were damaged by fallen trees and at some points there were branches on the tram rails. Dozens of arriving and departing flights at Schiphol Airport were delayed, sometimes for hours. Only one combined runway was available at the height of the storm, for safety reasons. The delays ran well into Saturday night, even after the storm had passed. "It takes a while before we sort out all delays", a spokesperson for the airport said to the Volkskrant. "A storm always leads to a reduction in capacity." KLM cancelled a total of around 50 flights on Friday evening and Saturday. Some flights also had to be diverted to Rotterdam The Hague Airport and Eelde. In the Gelderland-Zuid region the fire department responded to 80 reports of storm damage, The Brons of the safety office Veiligheidsregion Gelderland-Zuid told the Gelderlander. The fire brigade had between 20 and 25 units on the road on Saturday afternoon, mostly dealing with fallen trees and branches. "That we tried to remove as much as possible so that all roads remained accessible", he said. In Nijmegen the fire department was called in to deal with blown over stalls in the weekly market. Summer festivals were also disrupted by the storm, according to the Volkskrant. Visitors to Zwarte Cross had to find shelter from the rain and wind and some even gave up and went home. After the storm, the festival's organization decided to take away the entry fee for the rest of the performances. the Welcome to the Future festival was completely cancelled - the first event to be cancelled in the 23 years of organizer ID&T's existence. On Sunday, the Association of Insurers advised friends, neighbors and relatives of holiday goers to check their homes for damage, NU reports. "If there is damage, it will only grow worse if nothing is done about it", a spokesperson said. "It can also lead to unsafe situations." The spokesperson said that the financial consequences of the storm will only become clear during the course of Monday, when the insurance offices are open and damage claims start to come in. The Association expects the most claims from the coastal areas and the city regions of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague - due to the severity of the storm in combination with the population density in those areas.