- Cyclone Xynthia
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"Xinthia" and "Xynthia" redirect here, for other uses, see Cynthia
Cyclone Xynthia 
24-hour animation from 17:00 27 February Formed 26 February 2010 Dissipated 1 Μarch 2010 Countries or regions affected Belgium, Denmark, France, England, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and South-East England. Lowest pressure 967 mbar (hPa; 28.56 inHg) Damage €1.3 - 3 billion[1] Fatalities 63;[2][3][4] 12 missing[4] Xynthia was a violent European windstorm which crossed Western Europe between 27 February and 1 March 2010. It reached a minimum pressure of 967 mb on 27 February[5]. In France—where it was described by the civil defence as the most violent since Lothar and Martin in December 1999—at least 51 people were killed, with 12 more said to be missing. A further six people were killed in Germany, three in Spain, one in Portugal, one in Belgium and another one in England[2]. Most of the deaths in France occurred when a powerful storm surge topped by battering waves up to 7.5 m (25 ft) high, hitting at high tide, smashed through the sea wall off the coastal town of L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer.[6] A mobile home park built close to the sea wall was particularly hard-hit.[6] The sea wall was about two hundred years old, built in the time of Napoleon; critics said that situating a mobile home park so close to the sea wall showed poor coastal development practices.[6] The storm cut power to over a million homes in France and a million customers in Portugal lost power.
The storm may have been exacerbated by the spread of the volcanic cloud of the Soufriere Hills eruption on February 11, 2010 about 16 days earlier.[7]
Effects
One million homes were left without power in western France. In the Hautes-Pyrénées, falling trees damaged vehicles, the roofs of houses and barns were blown away, and rocks were falling onto the road.[8] In the département of Vendée, cities like La Faute-sur-Mer, L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer, La Tranche-sur-Mer were flooded with water levels reaching up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in).[8]. Flooding affected parts of the Charente-Maritime département (Suburbs of La Rochelle[9], cities of Fouras, Marennes, Châtelaillon as well as Ré and Oléron Island[9]) where high speed wind were registered (160 km/h)[10].
Protest against eviction after Xynthia, in Aytré, France.
Flooded railway tracks led to railway delays in France and the rail services in northern Spain were also severely affected. 70 flights from Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport were cancelled by Air France.[4]
The storm also caused damage in Portugal and Spain. The strongest wind gust recorded in Portugal was 166 km/h (103 mph)[11] while in Spain a gust of 228 km/h (142 mph) was recorded.[12] In France a 241 km/h (150 mph) wind gust was recorded at the Pic du Midi.
On March 11, 2010, catastrophe risk modeling firm EQECAT estimated wind losses for affected countries (not including Portugal and Spain) as follows: Mean damage: €1.3 billion (approximately $1.8 billion USD); Mean insured gross loss: €994 million (approximately $1.4 billion USD).[13]
On April 12, 2010, PERILS AG, an independent loss aggregator, disclosed its initial loss estimate for Xynthia of EUR 1.28bn. The second loss estimate will be published on 28 May 2010.[14]
Response
Météo-France issued its second highest warning (orange) for 27 February and early 28 February for Andorra, Ain, Ariège, Cantal, Finistère, Haute-Garonne, Gironde, Isère, Loire, Haute-Loire and Hautes-Pyrénées. It issued its highest warning level (red) for the Charente-Maritime, Vendée, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne.[8]
Helicopters were sent to rescue people on their roofs following flooding in Charente-Maritime and Vendée, France.[8] An emergency meeting was held on 28 February by French Premier François Fillon following the effects in France.[8]
The Portuguese Institute of Meteorology issued red warnings for the northern parts of the country for winds up to 150 km/hr, the rest of the country being with orange warnings for wind gusts up to 120 km/hr.
References
- ^ International News, ClaimsJournal.com (March 3, 2010). "AIR Estimates Windstorm Xynthia Insured Losses at $2 to $4.1 Billion". AIR Worldwide (Wells Publishing, Inc). http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/international/2010/03/03/107818.htm. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ a b English.news.cn, Xinhuanet (March 3, 2010). "Violent winter storm kills 62 in western Europe". Xinhua News Agency. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/03/c_13194575.htm. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ Europe, CNN (February 28, 2010). "Storm batters Europe, at least 55 dead". Paris, France: Cable News Network. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/02/28/europe.storms/. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
- ^ a b c "At least 50 dead in western Europe storms". BBC News. 28 February 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8540762.stm. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
- ^ CAT Updates, RMS. "Storm Xynthia". Risk Management Solutions, Inc.. RMS.com. http://www.rms.com/ClientResources/Catupdates/CatUpdatePublic.asp?event_id=3036. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ a b c Staff (1 March 2010) "Weak sea walls blamed for France storm disaster " BBC News
- ^ Yim, Huang and Chan in deWind (2010), Volcanoes and storms, Geoscientist vol. 20 no. 6 pages 11-12.
- ^ a b c d e "Au moins 40 morts après le passage de la tempête Xynthia" (in French). lemonde.fr. 28 February 2010. http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2010/02/26/violente-tempete-attendue-ce-week-end-sur-la-france_1311983_3244.html#ens_id=1311986. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
- ^ a b "Rescapés des eaux" (in French). sudouest.com. 28 February 2010. http://www.sudouest.com/charente-maritime/actualite/la-rochelle/article/881756/mil/5767846.html. Retrieved 7 march 2010.
- ^ "La tempête Xynthia des 27-28 février 2010" (in French). meteofrance.com. 28 February 2010. http://france.meteofrance.com/france/actu/actu?portlet_id=50150&document_id=22089. Retrieved 7 march 2010.
- ^ "Intensidade de vento no Continente" (in Portuguese). www.meteo.pt. 1 March 2010. http://www.meteo.pt/pt/media/noticias/newsdetail.html?f=/pt/media/noticias/textos/vento_continente_27FEV.html. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ^ "Estación C072-Orduña Información del dato validado:" (in Spanish). euskalmet.euskadi.net. 28 February 2010. http://www.euskalmet.euskadi.net/s07-5853x/es/meteorologia/lecdet.apl?e=5&CODIGO_METEORO=14&CODIGO_ALTURA=2500&FECHA_HORA=27/02/2010%2020:00:00&CODIGO_ESTACION=C072&R01HNoPortal=true. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
- ^ http://www.eqecat.com/news/2010/xynthia-storm.htm
- ^ http://www.insuranceerm.com/news-comment/xynthia-will-cost-industry-1.28bn.html
Categories:- 2010 natural disasters
- European windstorms
- 2010 meteorology
- 2010 in Europe
- 2010 in the United Kingdom
- 2010 in Spain
- 2010 in France
- 2010 in Norway
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