February storm caused fewer problems than expected

Around midnight meteorological institute KNMI withdrew a code orange weather warning for strong winds triggered by a February storm that hit the Netherlands on Thursday. The winds died down somewhat overnight. And while emergency services were busy due to the bad weather, so far the damage caused by the storm seem less severe than expected, NOS reports.

The storm caused a number of blown over trees, flooded cellars and loose roof tiles, but no major problems. Traffic information service VID had to deal with 15 trucks that were blown over on the Dutch highways and a number of trees that fell on the roads. Traffic therefore started piling up long before evening rush hour and kept going for a long time afterwards, according to BNR. 

Between noon and 11:00 p.m. on Thursday the emergency services received nearly 1,250 reports over storm damage, according to figures from alarmeringen.nl, a site that keeps track of all reports. With 126 reports Safety office Noord- en Oost Gelderland was called most often. The Haaglanden region received 102 reports. 

Emergency services in the city of The Hague were the busiest, responding 53 times. Amsterdam and Rotterdam each received 35 storm damage reports. 

Schiphol airport had a tough day due to the strong winds. The airport ended up canceling 175 flights. One airplane crash landed next to a runway at the Amsterdam airport after its right landing gear apparently collapsed. It is still unclear whether the strong winds had anything to do with it.