40 Million Trees Toppled
January 23, 2007
The German Forestry Council estimated that the storm toppled some 20 million cubic meters (706 cubic feet) of wood, which would cost the country's forestry industry about 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in lost revenue and damages.
The council also said on Monday it did not expect a drastic fall in the price of wood as demand for lumber has been higher than planned supplies would have provided. Some 62 million trees are said to have topped across Europe.
The effects of the hurricane, which struck Germany Thursday night, were not as serious on a national scale as previous storms the country has experienced. But it did have major consequences in some regions.
The western state of North Rhine-Westphalia suffered the worst damage. The state lost some 25 million trees, with older spruces among the hardest hit, according to state forestry officials.
Spruce trees in the low mountain ranges and forests of central and eastern Germany were also knocked down. State officials in Saxony and Thuringia said they expected to find at least 1 million cubic meters of fallen trees, adding that they have been unable to assess the damages completely.
A spokesman for the Harz National Park said the 1,142-meter (3,745-foot) Brocken Mountain acted as a brake for the storm. Park representatives said they had also not make an evaluation of the storm's total damages.
Trains still delayed
Rail passengers were still experiencing delays and many local trains had yet to return to the tracks four days after the storm blew over Germany, according to Deutsche Bahn. The German rail company said it expected train travel to return to normal by Wednesday.
But PR is still the Bahn's largest problem after part of the roof of Berlin's new main train station collapsed, causing it to be temporarily closed on Sunday for the second time in a week. A Bahn spokesman on Monday said those responsible would be "held legally and financially responsible." Exactly who was responsible for the collapse has not been determined. The station was able to reopen on Sunday night.
Preliminary repairs allowing the train station to withstand a similar storm were scheduled to be finished by the end of the week.
Officials at Cologne's Romano-Germanic Museum said the storm damaged a mosaic of Dionysus in about 50 spots, but added that the image of the wine god himself remained unharmed.