VOA News | Saturday, November 4, 2023 
Storm in Western Europe Leaves 14 Dead

Officials in Western Europe said Storm Ciaran killed at least 14 people over three days as it swept from the North Atlantic across Britain and northwestern France and into the North Sea, bringing with it record-breaking wind, heavy rain, high seas, hail and possibly a tornado. The storm, named Ciaran by Britain’s meteorological agency, known as the Met Office, brought record-breaking wind to France, with 193-kph (120-mph) wind gusts reported in Brittany. The nation’s energy minister reported 1.2 million households lost power. Officials in Italy’s Tuscany region declared a state of emergency with trees down and streets flooded. Nearly 200 millimeters (8 inches) of rain was reported on the northwestern coast. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Tuscany Governor Eugenio Giani said six people had died in the storm, including an 85-year-old man who drowned on the ground floor of his house near Prato, north of Florence. Media reports said falling trees, uprooted by strong winds, killed several people in France, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany…Read more