Storms in some regions of Germany cause trees to fall and cellars to flood. A train journey ends abruptly near Hennef. A nursing home is evacuated in East Frisia.
Berlin – After a hot start to the week, storms with rain and hail are sweeping across parts of Germany. According to initial reports, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg are particularly affected. Emergency services there reported flooded cellars and flooded streets in some places in the evening. A tree that had fallen down, presumably due to the storm, ended the journey of 80 passengers on an S-Bahn near Hennef (NRW), a railway spokesman said. The passengers changed to another train on site. A nursing home in East Frisia had to be evacuated.
36.5 degrees measured in Rhineland-Palatinate
According to preliminary data from the German Weather Service (DWD), today was the hottest day of the year so far. The highest temperature of 36.5 degrees was measured in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate, a DWD meteorologist said. This beat the previous record of 35.7 degrees from Monday – also according to preliminary data – in the same place.
Flooded stretches of the motorway
Then the storms came in the evening. “All available emergency services are deployed,” said a spokesman for the Duisburg fire department. Almost the entire city area was affected. The main focus of the operations was clearly problems with water – flooding in cellars and underpasses. So far there have been no serious injuries. However, one person was hit so hard by a hailstone that he suffered a laceration on his head. The police also reported several flooded areas on the Autobahn 59 and Autobahn 42 near Duisburg. They warned of aquaplaning.
In Bonn, the police reported around 30 operations. “Flooded cellars, broken branches, trees on the road,” a spokesman said in the evening. In Haltern am See, the fire brigade also carried out several operations. There, too, the emergency services were mainly dealing with flooded cellars and fallen trees. According to preliminary findings, human lives are not in danger. “There are also no rivers that are overflowing their banks.”
Floods wash away cars
Streets in Karlsruhe and the surrounding area (Baden-Württemberg) were also flooded – cellars were flooded. In some places, the water was half a meter high on the streets or in underpasses, said a police spokesman. There were no injuries. The area around Bretten and Bruchsal was particularly affected. In Gondelsheim, about 15 kilometers west of Karlsruhe, cars were washed away by the masses of water, said a fire department spokesman. There was “absolute chaos.”
In Linkenheim-Hochstetten, lightning struck the attic of an apartment building, which then caught fire, the police spokesman said. The fire brigade extinguished the fire. Some of the residents are currently taking shelter in a church, as the building has no gas or electricity.
Nursing home must be evacuated
Heavy rainfall has also led to hundreds of fire service operations in East Frisia (Lower Saxony). The town of Aurich was particularly affected, said a spokesman for the operations center in Wittmund. A nursing home had to be evacuated. It was not immediately clear how many people were affected. A hospital was also badly hit by the storm. Firefighters and technical relief workers tried to pump out the basement to prevent an evacuation. “Sandbags are currently being brought in,” said the spokesman. dpa
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