Powerful Storm Babet battered Britain, northern Germany and southern Scandinavia in late October with powerful winds, heavy rain and storm surges that caused floods, power outages, evacuations and disrupted flights, railway service and ferry lines.

Published 12 months ago

Babet was named by the UK Meteorological Office on October 16 and in the following days caused havoc in many coastal areas with ports and marinas in the south of Denmark and the north of Germany particularly hard hit, according to media reports and sailing websites.

Gale-force winds whipped up storm surges on the southern shores of the Baltic Sea, breaking through flood defenses in coastal areas in Denmark and northern Germany.

Denmark

Parts of Denmark experienced water levels over two metres higher than usual, with a water level of 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) measured in Aabenraa and Hesnæs. In Sønderborg the storm surge was the highest since 1904, with a water level of 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) above normal; and was the highest since records began in 1892 in Gedser with a height of 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) above normal.

Danish media reported that the water level in Hesnæs harbor was more than 239 cm above the normal water level.

Jannick Houmann, director of the Classen Fideicommis at Falster, told the Danish news website Minbaad.dk that Hesnæs Havn was no longer a port and had been “razed to the ground”.

“The asphalt has broken up, the pier is gone and the bridges have disappeared into the sea. There are sailboats and motorboats up on the bank, which are destroyed. There is nothing left of what once was,” he said.

Germany

In Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein area more than 2,000 people were evacuated due to storm surge and in Flensburg, water levels reached more than 2.27 m (7 ft 5 in) above the usual level.

In Stahlbrode in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the storm surge severely damaged the ferry as well as the port facilities.

Kiel Schilsee, the harbor that was built for the Olympics in 1972, was hardest hit. The German website http://Yacht.de calculates the loss to be 200 boats. The weather was forecast, and many owners fought all night to save their boat, but still suffered damage by other boats that had broken loose. The water level here was 227 cm above normal.

United Kingdom

UK Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said parts of eastern and northern Scotland had already had a month and a half’s worth of rain during the storm, with more downpours coming that could “push those areas close towards two months of rain in the span of three days.”

The storm brought disruption across the UK, with several main roads and rail lines shut by flooding.

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Related News:

• Storm Babet Batters Northern Europe (Le Monde)
• Northern Europe Hit by Deadly Storm Babet (Weather.com)
• Massive Carnage from Storm Babet (Sailing Anarchy)
• Baltic Sea:  Millions of Dollars of Damage after Flood of the Century (Teller Report)

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