Storm blew in massive clean-up bill

DSB estimates that the damage sustained by last month’s storm could end up costing ten million kroner, but for insurance companies it could reach a billion

admin

Nov 7, 2013

The hurricane-force wind storm that punished much of the country on October 28 has taken a steep financial toll on national railway provider DSB.

DSB has evaluated the damage and reported that reparations could easily exceed five million kroner and possibly end up being twice that.

“We currently estimate that the reparation costs are at around five million kroner, but we could end up looking at ten million kroner when all is said and done,” Stig Pastwa, the head of finance for DSB, said in a press release.

25 trains needing repairs
Winds gusting at over 190 km/h battered the country last Monday evening, uprooting trees, sending debris flying and bringing train traffic across the nation to a standstill.

DSB said that at least 500 trees had fallen across rails and overhead wires during the storm, and Lyngby Station suffered extensive damage. Additionally, 25 trains were in need of repairs following the storm.

“The storm inflicted severe damage to the trains, as well as the infrastructure, and the situation is generally estimated to be direr than was the case during the storm in 1999,” Pastwa said.

Record winds in Jutland
The national rail infrastructure company, Banedanmark, estimated its damage costs to be upwards of seven million kroner, while the national road agency, Vejdirektoratet, evaluated road damage of close to one million kroner.

The insurance companies have been busy as well. Tryg insurance company said that the damage nationwide exceeded one billion kroner and around 100,000 Danes had endured material damages to their homes, vehicles and bicycles.

According to national weather agency, DMI, the 193 km/h winds measured on the southern island of Als were the most powerful ever recorded in Danish history.

Aside from the structural and material damages sustained, three people were killed and hundreds of people were injured. On Sunday evening, a 57-year-old woman who was trapped under a roof in the southern Jutland town of Haderslev died from her injuries. A 32-year-old woman who was struck by falling debris in Brøndy still remains in a critical condition at Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet.