Sweden storms subside, gradual return to normal (Roundup)

Jan 15, 2007, 15:40 GMT

Stockholm - Train services resumed Monday in western Sweden that was severely battered by strong winds that reached gale-force in gusts over the weekend but train operator SJ said delays were expected to remain in other parts of the country.

Power companies in Sweden deployed hundreds of extra workers to clear fallen trees from power lines, but said it was not possible to state when power would be fully restored.

More than 180,000 households mainly in the southern province of Smaland were affected by power cuts Monday afternoon.

The Swedish Forest Agency conducted aerial surveys and estimated that 12 million cubic metres of forest was felled, making the storm one of the worst to hit Sweden in recent years - a January 2005 storm was worse with 75 million cubic metres.

The Forest Agency also expressed fears that the spruce bark beetle would increase in numbers. The beetle, a vermin that thrives in storm-felled forest, was already increasing in numbers after the storm two years ago, agency analyst Magnus Fridh said.

In Denmark, the storm and high seas were reported to have eroded a sizeable chunk of the coastline on the small island Anholt in the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden.

Although winds were less severe Monday, plans to allow divers to inspect the aft section of a Cyprus-registered freighter that ran aground off western Norway and broke up late Friday were postponed.

The ship, Server, was headed for Murmansk in northern Russia and was not transporting any cargo when it ran aground. Some 240 tons of fuel was estimated to have leaked into the sea, threatening a local bird sanctuary.

Cleanup operations were also delayed over the prevailing conditions.

Elderly people in the worst hit areas in the southern Swedish province Smaland were offered to be evacuated to nursing homes until power was restored.

Schools and kindergartens were closed Monday in several districts of Smaland and southern Sweden, local officials said citing the power cuts and impassable roads due to toppled trees on the roads.

Falling trees claimed the lives of three people Sunday, including a young boy who was crushed to death when a falling tree hit the scooter he was riding on together with his father in Motala, some 250 kilometres south-west of Stockholm.

The Swedish weather service SMHI said the storm was the worst to hit the country in two years.