Re: CHAT: The Big Storm [was: Re: conlang servey]

 --- Dirk Elzinga wrote:

> At 4:51 PM +0100 10/28/02, Christophe Grandsire wrote:
> >En réponse à bnathyuw <bnathyuw@...>:
> >
> >> 2.
> >> we've been having a bit of wind here today ( the sun
> >> newspaper described it in typical tabloid hyperbole as
> >> a 'horror hurricane' . . . a few felled branches and
> >> the odd dislodged slate )
> >
> >Here the storm was a bit stronger than that :)) . Windforce 11, the
> >Netherlands didn't have that for 12 years! Hundreds of tree have fallen,
> >the train traffic has been stopped all night for reparations, and still
> >didn't work well this morning (I was supposed to go to a conference, but
> >there was no train to the town I had to be :((( ), and quite a few
> >buildings have suffered. The roof of the Province House of Zuid Holland
> >fell, and the police had to put a car on it to prevent it to fly down the
> >road! (and even then, it was just, the car was nearly taken away by the
> >roof!) And unfortunately a few people died...
>
> It was my luck to be an exchange student in the Netherlands (University of
> Tilburg) 12 years ago. I remember that storm; I was on my bike coming home
> from class trying to dodge the roof tiles. At one point I couldn't go forward
> anymore, and I had to get off my bike and walk. After a few minutes I
> couldn't walk anymore so I ducked into a doorway until the storm eased a bit.
I remember that storm very well, especially because it was the birthday of my
girlfriend. I was living in Amsterdam in those days and had to take the bike to
a meeting at the other side of the city. The streets were filled with garbage,
parts of trees, roof tiles, and a fallen scaffolding every now and then. At a
certain point the wind was so strong that it took both me and my bike and threw
me (rather violently) to a wall... The strange thing is that I rather enjoyed
the whole thing.
Of course, the meeting didn't take place, and I sailed back, which was good for
my poor legs who had already done quite a job getting there.

Yesterday was slightly different, since the building in front of our house
almost lost its roof. Luckily it didn't fall, since the fire brigade managed in
time to remove some part of it. But there were no trains going anymore (and
even today they have incredible delays), which meant that my mother-in-law, who
lives in Germany and had urgent business to take care of, had to stay much
longer than planned.

Jan

=====
"Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones

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