25 years after hurricane Lothar: A survivor remembers!

25 years after hurricane Lothar: A survivor remembers!

Ludwigsburg, Deutschland - Today, 25 years after the devastating hurricane Lothar, Martin Burk from Murr remembers the day that changed his life forever. On December 26, 1999, just one day after the storm, which raged with wind speeds of up to 150 km/h, Burk was seriously injured when a tree fell on him and separated part of his skull ceiling. "It is a miracle that I survived," admits the 62-year-old, who is grateful despite the last physical complaints that it was not worse, like the wikipedia .

The consequences of the storm

The storm front destroyed an estimated 115 to 140 million cubic meters of wood across Europe, including the historic Park of Versailles, in which over 10,000 trees fell within just two hours. In addition to the human losses, the hurricane was an enormous economic challenge, especially for electricity supply. Over 3.4 million customers in France remained without electricity, since the storms Lothar and Martin together questioned the energy infrastructure, which is one of the largest energy supply debacle in the history of modern industrialized nations.

In addition to the devastation caused by Lothar, another heavy storm named Martin shortly after the first to increase the damage in regions already affected. The events around the Century Organic towered the weather services valuable lessons in the prediction of extreme weather conditions, but Lothar's lack of forecast remains a constant topic in meteorological analyzes