Storm Ciara Sweeps Across Hungary, Causing Fallen Trees and Travel Disruptions

The storm Ciara, which has been battling Western Europe, reached Hungary yesterday evening with extreme winds, with gusts up to 90-100 km/h. Roofs, trees, and chimneys were damaged by the storm, also causing travel disruptions in train and air travel. The strongest gust of wind was measured at Kékestető, measuring 111 kilometers per hour.

Firefighters were called 397 times until yesterday evening

According to the National Directorate General for Disaster Management, mainly roofs, trees, and chimneys were damaged by storm Ciara in Hungary. By 7 pm on Monday night, firefighters had to intervene at 397 locations due to the wind, causing damage to a total of 120 buildings. Ciara mainly tore off roofs, tiles, and chimneys, but also damaged wires.

In Győr, the canopy rooftop of a sports hall was torn off by the wind, while in Szentlőrinc, a tree fell on the gate of an elementary school. In addition to residential buildings, several public buildings have been damaged by the wind as well. Firefighters were alerted to about 240 locations because of fallen trees or broken tree branches. In several places, fallen trees also damaged the wires causing power outages, leaving thousands of households across the country temporarily without power. Service providers and firefighters are constantly working on the damages. Buses and trains also operated with increased travel times.

Kékestető: 111 km/h gust, water of the Balaton “tipped”

The water of Lake Balaton also “tipped,” with the largest swing of 82 centimeters between the east and west coasts. The National Meteorological Service posted on Facebook:

According to the report of our colleague in Siófok, the water level difference between Balatonfűzfő and Keszthely reached 81 cm!

The reason for this phenomenon is that the strong wind pushed the lake water from one coast to the other and it caused Lake Balaton to “tip.”

The strongest gust of wind was measured at Kékestető, reaching 111 kilometers per hour.

Several flights with Budapest stopover canceled due to Ciara

Several flights with stopovers in Budapest were canceled on Monday due to stormy weather around final destination airports in Europe, the communications director of Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport said. Cancellations due to storm Ciara sweeping through western and central Europe have affected 11 flights due to conditions at their destination airports, Katalin Valentinyi of Budapest Airport said in a statement.

Budapest Airport notified the passengers about possible disruptions in flight schedules and cancellations of their flights in the morning, she said, adding that they had been advised to contact their airlines. On Monday afternoon, the wind speed around Liszt Ferenc airport was 32-35 knots, Valentinyi said, adding that this is expected to reach 47 knots, or around 90 k/h, in the late afternoon. Apart from the stopover flights, all other services at the airport were operating normally, she said.

With the exception of two counties, Zala and Baranya, the National Meteorological Service issued a first grade warning to the whole country on Tuesday due to the threat of strong wind gusts and thunderstorms.

featured photo illustration: MTI/Varga György

Source : hungarytoday.hu