Storm Ciarán makes landfall in Zeeland; KLM cancels afternoon flights, schools closed

Storm Ciarán has made landfall in Zeeland. Wind force 9 was measured in Vlussingen between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. KLM has decided to cancel all its departing and arriving flights at Schiphol Airport from the early afternoon due to the storm. The stormy weather also resulted in several schools staying closed on Thursday and disrupted ferry services and several events.

The KNMI issued a code orange weather warning for gusts up to 110 km/h for the coastal provinces, starting in Zeeland at 11:00 a.m., and a code yellow for most of the rest of the country. Only Groningen, Overijssel, and Drenthe won’t be impacted by Ciarán, the meteorological institute expects. The strongest gust this morning was 97 km/h, measured by the KNMI at 11:30 a.m. in Hoek van Holland. Similarly, the next strongest gust was measured further south: 95 km/h in Vlissingen.

In Apeldoorn, a tree blew over and fell on a cycling woman. Paramedics took the injured woman to a hospital, the fire department reported. There have also been multiple fallen trees in Zeeland, but no injuries reported. On the A4 highway towards Amsterdam, a truck lost its roof to the wind. The connecting road on junction Badhoevedorp to the A9 is closed in two directions as a result, the Rijkswaterstaat reported.

KLM decided to cancel all its afternoon flights because “the expected wind force 9 in combination with wind gusts of 95 to 110 kilometers per hour could lead to unsafe situations,” a spokesperson told NU.nl. Affected passengers will be rebooked on other flights or refunded. The measure applies from early afternoon until the end of the day.

Transavia also canceled six flights departing from Rotterdam The Hague Airport on Thursday - five in the morning and one in the afternoon. The airline canceled the morning flights, even though the wind hadn’t picked up much yet, because those planes would have to return to the Rotterdam airport during the height of the storm.

Several schools decided not to open on Thursday due to the stormy weather. These include the Oscar Romero, d'Ampte, and Werenfridus secondary schools of the Tabor College educational group in Hoorn, Noord-Holland. Employees and students are doing distance learning today, the school community reported about its over 3,600 students.

The port of Rotterdam closed all large container terminals due to the storm. That is standard when the wind force reaches 8 or higher, a spokesperson told NOS. "The large ships stay outside, and there is less transshipment, but the port is still accessible," the spokesperson said. The transshipment of goods continues in the smaller terminals for now.

Rijkswaterstaat halted shipping on the Westerschelde from 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. on Thursday due to the storm. Shipping traffic has also been halted on the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal, a spokesperson told De Telegraaf. “We are monitoring the situation closely, and if necessary, the measure can be extended or withdrawn earlier.”

Cyclists and pedestrians cannot use the Westerchelde Ferry between Vlissingen and Breskens. The ferry service is using buses to transport travelers to the other side of the Westerschelde.

Some of the ferries between Harlingen and Terschelling and Harlingen and Vlieland have also been canceled, shipping company Doeksen reported. Other ferries’ times have changed.

Several security regions in the coastal areas have urged locals to only call the 112 emergency number in an actual emergency. If there is a tree on the sidewalk, call the municipality. If a tree threatens to fall on a public road or if a roof covering has become loose, then you can call for the fire brigade.