case study: the Storm of Jan 18 2007 in the Netherlands

Many roads are closed due to fallen trees.
A2 Utrecht / Amsterdam closed in both directions due to a sound-screen that nearly blew away at Utrecht
Many roads closed due to trucks that have been blown over, A12 Utrecht, N247 Katwoude, N11, A27 Almere (twice), N36 Almelo, A16 Moerdijkbrug. Truckers are advised to park somewhere calm.
Pizza couriers won't drive.

Rail Cargo transport is stopped
All over the country railways are damaged and blocked by stuff, the power-lines can only be repaired if the force of wind drops below 5.

E-mails claiming to contain details of the storms contain a malicious virus. E-mails with the subject line “230 dead as storm batters Europe”

In Leiden it rained a total of 41,4 millimeters.
Close to Den Helder 8 millimeters of rain fell in 10 minutes.
The road over the Oosterscheldekering closed (N57)
The Haringvliet bridge closed.
The Erasmus bridge closed.
The Moerdijk bridge (A16) closed
The dijk Enkhuizen-Lelystad closed.
Ferries don't run to Vlieland and Terschelling
The container-ship Claudel broke loose in Rotterdam seaport, and smashed into a anchorage of an Oil Terminal, about 400 to 800 cubic meters of oil was spilled. The oil can't be cleared due to the nightfall. Citizens of the Hague have reported a stinky smell.
All Dutch pumping-stations are pumping full-speed, so that lowlands don't flood.
Permanent dijk-patrols in Groningen and Friesland provinces.
All waterways are closed in Groningen Province.
Dijk-water-passages are closed at Delftzijl.
At Heemskerk sea and wind washed away 4 meters of dunes over over a distance of 4 kilometers.
Water-pressure dropped in Eastern parts of the Country, due to damage by the roots of uprooted trees.
One person was blown into the canal in Amsterdam.

Fronts of office buildings were blown away.
Glass fell-off nice shiny sky-scrapers.
At Kuiderbos in the Noordoostpolder 4000 pines were blown over.
Cranes fell-over in Leiden and other places.
Cranes didn't work in Rotterdam seaport.
At the Brabanthallen in Den Bosch people can't leave because it's too dangerous to approach their cars with parts of the conference-center flying around.
Train stations closed in Utrecht and Amsterdam, in Utrecht people can stay overnight in the conference center.

Trauma-helicopters didn't fly, but buses are used instead.
Mounted Police went by car.
The red-cross helped 6000 stuck travelers at the stations.
The National meteorological institute handled 3 million visitors in the afternoon and then shut down.
A website named http://www.crisis.nl was opened because all other sites were overloaded, it got 3,5 million visits in five hours.
The National crisis center advises all to stay indoors, they fear objects flying around and a national public-information-number has been opened with 25 lines and was called 7000 times.

Road-traffic: