clarinews@clarinet.com (JOHN PHILLIPS) (02/05/90)
PARIS (UPI) -- The death toll from one of the region's most deadly storms in two decades reached at least 30 Sunday and thousands of homes remained without power a day after winds up to 104 mph lashed parts of Europe, damaging architectural landmarks and ripping open a jetliner's wing. At least 23 were reported dead in France and, in adjacent West Germany, the hurricane-force winds that lashed the country for the second time in 10 days were reported to have killed seven people and injured more than 50. Police said Sunday that thousands of trees were uprooted and hundreds of roofs were torn off buildings. The storm abated before dawn Sunday, but not before its caused several million dollars in damage in West Germany alone. In East Germany, the storm caused power failures and interruptions of rail service in several areas where trees fell on the lines. In France, civil defense authorities said the death toll, which rose when several injured people died of their wounds, made Saturday's storm one of the worst in the past 20 years. Thirteen people died in Paris and the surrounding Ile de France region, which were hardest hit and recorded 104 mph winds. Many victims were killed when trees crushed their cars. Others were struck by flying signs, doors, and debris from broken walls and balconies, authorities said. The electric utility company, Electricite de France, or EDG, said at least 40,000 customers remained without power late Sunday. At the height of the storm Saturday, 2 million customers lost power, an EDG spokesman said. The winds ripped roofs from houses, tore down electrical cables, caused balcony walls to collapse and left roadways blocked with uprooted trees. In Chartres, southwest of Paris, the winds ripped a dozen 440-pound copper strips off the roof of the famed 12th century Gothic Notre-Dame de Chartres cathedral, leaving two holes measuring about 60 square yards over the nave of the architectural treasure. Air traffic controllers at Paris's Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports suspended virtually all departures at the height of the storm and authorities closed railway lines and roadways. The pilot of a Pan American jetliner en route to New York had to abort a takeoff from De Gaulle airport after winds tore a 6.5 foot gash in one of the aircraft's wings as it neared the end of the runway for takeoff. The passengers were evacuated from the damaged aircraft and were rerouted to other flights.