Hurricane-like winds break record in Hungary – PHOTOS

Forrás: BM Országos Katasztrófavédelmi Főigazgatóság

The stormy weather over the weekend caused extreme damages, significant transportation delays and many service disruptions across the country. The photos of the damage speak for themselves.

The hurricane-force winds over the weekend left extreme damage in Hungary. At Lake Balaton, the strongest wind (119.5 km/h) was measured in Siófok that crushed the ice on the Hungarian sea.

Moreover, the windy weather left behind broken branches and fallen trees all across the country.

Many trees fell on roads, houses, fences, cars and power lines, and the wind also damaged the roofs of buildings.

As the Hungarian news portal Helló Magyar reports, most of the emergency calls came from Budapest and Pest county, but many alarms were also received from Bács-Kiskun and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok counties.

The damages caused significant delays in public transport.

Train cancellations on several routes, 1-2 hour delays and replacement bus services were experienced by passengers travelling by train on Sunday evening. Train speed was limited on several lines in order to prevent power line breaks and power cuts.

The hurricane-force winds caused power cuts in several places across the country, leaving thousands of users without access to mobile and fixed telephone, internet and cable TV services. The damages affected most parts of Kecskemét, Albertirsa, Tatabánya and Oroszlány.

According to the National Directorate General for Disaster Management (OKF), firefighters were called out to 1,654 incidents on Sunday due to windy weather. A significant number of the alarms were due to

building and chimney damages, hanging tiles, tin sheets, advertising signs, and in some places traffic lights blown down by the wind.

In addition, eight family houses have become temporarily uninhabitable due to damage caused by strong winds on Sunday. The 34 people concerned were taken in by their relatives.

Although winds eased in many places on Monday, it is advised to remain cautious. Strong wind can still be expected in the areas of Fertőszentmiklós, Csorna, Győr, Bakony, the northern and eastern parts of Pest county, the eastern part of Fejér county, near Szántód and Paks, Mátra, and the regions of Balassagyarmat, Heves, Szolnok and Gyomaendrőd.

Broken branches or fallen trees can be expected on mountain roads and side roads in the upcoming days. The OKF recommends assessing the damage around residential properties and reporting damaged power lines, utilities and dangerously fallen trees to emergency number 112.