Six people have died in severe flooding in Tuscany, central Italy, and three in Portugal, bringing the preliminary death toll from Storm Ciaran in Western Europe from torrential rains and record winds up to 15, according to media reports.
About 40,000 people in Tuscany remained without light because of the heavy rains. Wind speeds reached 100 to 120 km/h in the Apennines and 80 to 100 km/h on the coast, Tuscany's Governor Eugenio Giani. He urged residents to "stay indoors and climb to the upper floors".
Hurricane Ciaran became the most destructive hurricane of the last quarter of a century. Wind gusts reached 200 km/h in France's Brittany and Normandy. Wave heights exceeded 20 meters and authorities evacuated 1,300 people as the disaster raged.
In the Hauts-de-France region, the high-speed trains were completely interrupted. In Paris and a number of communes in the west of the country, visits to parks were banned. The damage caused by Ciaran is currently estimated to have cost nearly 500 million euros.