Ela, one year on

A year ago we woke up after a very dark and stormy night to find chaos in our village and beyond.  A storm with winds of up to 142 km/h had blown through, destroying 20,000 trees in the city of Essen alone, killing six people and injuring 80.

A year later and the woods are no longer off limits, the paths have been cleared (mostly) but these two tree stumps near the school remain, according to a friend, tenders for the removal work are too high for the council to pay and so we're left with an ugly reminder of a wild night.