Whirlwind destroys Twiske mill

A whirlwind did serious damage to the Twiske mill at the West lakes near Amsterdam on Tuesday afternoon. Photos show that the mill lost its top completely - the sails broke off and the cap was badly damaged. "This is a monumental disaster', miller Marcel Koop said to newspaper AD. "He usually squeaks and creaks (in bad weather, ed), but this afternoon my ears popped and there was a huge noise. When I looked outside I saw the sails lying broken on the ground." The whirlwind tore the ridge apart in a matter of seconds. "In retrospect I sat in the safest place, namely inside the mill. Outside 1,500 kilo beams were thrown hundreds of meters. Fortunately no one was hit, not even the goats in the field." The mill dates from 1572. Koop believes repairing it will take months. The whirlwind also damaged roofs, greenhouses ad cars in the areas of Zaandam, Winkel and Nieuwe Niedorp.