Residents of Britain and Northern Europe recovered Friday from a devastating storm which hammered the region with hurricane-force winds, killing at least 92 people and inflicting hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage.
The Thursday tempest wreaked destruction in Britain, where gusts exceeding 100 mph blasted down rows of trees, ripped roofs off buildings and swept vehicles from roads.
Meteorologists reported the storm was grinding eastward toward the Baltic states and would probably dissipate when it entered the Soviet Union later Friday. Aiports and ferry services were closed in Sweden as the storm struck.
Police and news reports in Britain said at least 45 people had been killed, mostly by falling trees and in motor accidents along slippery roads.
The storm rolled across the English Channel and pounded the Netherlands, leaving 20 people dead. A Danish sailor was confirmed drowned when a trawler sank in the North Sea, and at least seven other seamen were reported missing and feared dead.
Weather-related accidents claimed 10 lives in Belgium, eight in France and eight in West Germany. The storm -- the worst to hit Britain since an October 1987 hurricane -- also injured hundreds of people across Europe.
Clean-up crews swung into operation throughout the region. The British military was called out to assist civil authorities in clearing roads and railway lines blocked by toppled trees, downed utility poles and debris.
The British Broadcasting Corp. reported remote regions could be cut off for at least one month because local councils were so overstretched. Preliminary damage estimates had reached $1.33 billion, and some 3 million people remained without electricity, it said.
Most of the deaths were caused by falling trees or collapsing roofs. A giant stone sphere fell through a roof at a school in western Bristol city, killing a 16-year-old schoolgirl, and two students died at other schools in the area.
'I think everything is being done that possibly could be done, and people are responding well,' Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher told reporters. 'Our deepest sorrows to those who just suddenly their lives changed for them because of this terrible tragedy.'
Tens of thousands of office workers in London were forced to remain overnight in the capital because of canceled trains, but authorities reported most transport services had been reinstated, many at reduced schedules.
The government announced it would compensate local councils for 75 percent of any storm damage payments. Insurance companies were swamped with calls from clients making claims, and experts predicted the final cost could be higher than the 1987 hurricane because the storm swept over a wider area and occurred during the day, when more people were outside.
Dutch meteorologists said the storm was the worst to hit the Netherlands in 10 years, and the low-lying region was hammered by winds that crushed cars, destroyed buildings and brought life to a standstill. A spokeswoman for the National Insurance Information Office said the damage would take weeks to appraise, but would probably run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The storm sparked a fire at a luxury hotel in the coastal town of Noordwijk, 10 miles north of The Hague, and three firemen died battling the blaze.
Much damage was inflicted on Holland's extensive horticulture industry, and many greenhouses were reduced to metal skeletons and surrounded by shattered glass.
'We have thousands of reports of damage, and the phones are ringing off the hook,' said Kees Vis of the Hagelunie Insurance Co., whose clients are mostly farmers and market gardeners.
Belgian and West German military helicopters worked through the night to pluck 56 sailors from a Soviet ship that sank in the North Sea. At least two other vessels were sunk in the turbulent seas, and East German officials reported they had dispatched rescue teams to assist foreign boats endangered in their national waters.
West German authorities evacuated one coastal village threatened by floods from a broken dike, and thousands of police and fire fighters worked through the night fighting storm-related problems in northern and western areas.
French officials said winds reaching 108 mph pounded the northern areas of Brittany, Pas-de-Calais and Ile-de-France, sending firemen out on more than 6,000 emergency calls.
The state-run electricity corporation EDF reported some 60,000 homes remained without power in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais area, about 40,000 in the region ofArras town.
Belgian authorities moved to repair damage from the storm, which claimed at least three church steeples among the numerous structures blasted down by the winds. They reported the storm abated during the night, but 55-mph gales Friday morning still lashed the North Sea coast.
A spokesman for the European Community's Commission, which is based in Brussels, said it was assessing damage caused in member states to decide about granting financial aid.
Danish authorities fought to block several breaches in the nation's dike network, but reported they controlled the threat after losing many sheep trapped in flooded pastures.
