Germany's forests devastated by storm

BERLIN, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- German forestry officials say last week's deadly storm has devastated the country's forests.

The storm, which left 11 people dead, knocked down 40 million trees, Der Speigel reported.

The cost of the lost timber is estimated at $1.3 billion.

The worst damage was in North-Rhine Westphalia, where some 25 million trees were knocked down by the extremely high winds. The newspaper said the forests of Saxony and Thuringia also suffered severe damage.