At least 51 people have been reported dead after a terrible winter storm battered the southern and western parts of Europe.

The storm, named Xynthia, was an extra-tropical cyclone that hit the region’s coastal areas before moving inland. Massive flooding had been reported in numerous areas as an effect of the storm.

“It’s a national catastrophe,” shares French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, in a report by CNN. “Many people drowned, surprised by the rapid rise of the water.” France had been one of the hardest hit, where preliminary reports regard at least 45 to have been killed in the storm.

The storm manifested winds raging in at approximately 200 kph (approximately 124 mph), tearing down trees and power lines, leaving a million households without electricity on Sunday afternoon. Approximately a hundred flights have also been cancelled at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport.

Two children died in a car accident during the storm in Spain, along with a gentleman from northern Spain. Another child was killed by a falling tree in Portugal, as well as a gentleman in Germany when a tree fell on his car. The man’s wife has sustained serious injuries. Another woman was killed in England when the vehicle she was driving was swept up by a raging current.

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