Several houses evacuated: lightning strike sets warehouse on fire

Nfter a lightning strike, a 3,000 square meter warehouse in Weingarten, Baden-Württemberg, caught fire. The hall of a former workshop area caught fire during the night, according to the fire brigade. Due to the rapid spread of the flames, emergency services from surrounding regions moved in to extinguish the fire. However, the roads were difficult to drive on due to the nightly storm, which is why the fire brigade initially found it difficult to make headway. This is one of the reasons why the extinguishing work continued in the morning. Surrounding houses were evacuated to be on the safe side. No one was injured in the fire. The extent of the damage was initially unclear.

In the course of the day, further storms are to be expected in parts of Germany. Thunderstorms and rainfall are expected, especially in the east, south and east-central. The German Weather Service (DWD) announced that there could still be heavy rain. Locally, around 50 liters per square meter could fall in a short time, said DWD meteorologist Marcel Schmid. “This corresponds in part to half a month’s total or more than has fallen in the whole of August,” said Schmid. In the course of the weekend, cooler and drier air should then prevail from the north-west and drive out the muggy, warm air masses.

Cellars and streets under water

Storms with hail and heavy rain had already swept across parts of Germany on Friday. Hundreds of cellars and several streets were under water in Middle Franconia and in the Upper Palatinate. In the evening, the integrated control center in Nuremberg reported around 470 deployments by fire brigades and technical relief organizations in Nuremberg, Fürth and the districts of Fürth and Erlangen-Höchstadt. There were no injuries.

In Berlin, the punk band Die Ärzte and rapper Marteria canceled concerts planned for the evening, and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender ended the festival for volunteers early to be on the safe side.

For Sunday, individual showers and thunderstorms are again forecast for the south, sometimes with heavy rain. In the north-east there can be showery rain at first. Otherwise, the sky is cloudy, especially in the south-west, according to the DWD, it will remain sunny and dry for longer. The maximum values are between 20 and 28 degrees.