One fatality, flooded streets and port facilities, fallen trees – the coast of Schleswig-Holstein was hit by a severe storm surge on Friday evening. In many cities there were disruptions due to closed roads. The east wind drove the water against beaches and cliffs with hurricane-force gusts. A water level of the century has been reached in Flensburg.
On the Schleswig-Holstein Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn, a 33-year-old woman died in her car, which was hit by a tree that had fallen in the storm. The accident in the Ostholstein district occurred on Friday afternoon, a police spokesman said. The woman lived on the island. The police were initially unable to provide any further information about the exact circumstances of the accident.
The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) expected the storm surge to peak on Friday evening. In Flensburg the water reached a level of 2.22 meters (9:25 p.m.) above normal, according to the storm surge information map from the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of the Environment. For Flensburg, this is the highest water level in over 100 years.
Günther thanks helpers
Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther thanked all those who helped. “This is a challenging situation and I am very grateful to all the helpers who are currently on duty,” said the CDU politician. “The police, fire brigade, THW and the employees of the State Office for Coastal Protection are committed to keeping the situation under control, and they are succeeding.” The Ministry of the Interior’s disaster control team began work in Kiel.
Near Heringsdorf in the Ostholstein district, several campsites and a holiday home complex were evacuated because the floodwaters almost reached the top of the dike. A campsite owner told the German Press Agency. But the dike is still holding. According to the Interior Ministry, there was also damage to dikes in the Rendsburg-Eckernförde district and in the Schleswig district. Emergency services are carrying out security work in the endangered sections.
The fire brigade had already spoken of around 110 operations in the Rendsburg-Eckernförde and Plön districts as well as in Kiel in the afternoon. In addition to Kiel with 36 missions, there were focal points in the Schlei region, in Eckernförde and Damp, where a rehabilitation clinic was secured against the rising water with sandbags.
Several streets in the state capital were closed. In Flensburg, the streets at the harbor were under water. For safety reasons, the municipal utilities switched off the electricity in the affected area. In the Schleswig-Flensburg district, tens of thousands of sandbags were distributed to the affected authorities and communities.
Hotelier affected by flooding
An employee of the Hotel Hafen Flensburg said: “It doesn’t look good. We have the bulkheads in front of them, they haven’t been crossed yet.” However, there is water in the hotel because it is an old building and the water finds its way through the corners. Guests are no longer there. Furniture and anything that could be damaged has been cleared away.
In the Bay of Lübeck the water also overflowed its banks in many places. In addition, unsecured objects and falling trees partially blocked the roads in Lübeck and the Ostholstein district.
Dike endangered – residents prepared for evacuation
During the severe storm surge on the Baltic Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein, the emergency services in the 600-inhabitant town of Maasholm abandoned the dike. Residents in three districts were asked to prepare for a possible evacuation, a spokesman for the Schleswig-Flensburg district said. A multi-purpose hall has been prepared.
In the Schlei town of Arnis, which is considered the smallest town in Germany with just 300 inhabitants, two dikes broke. But this has no impact on people.
Impact on traffic on land and at sea
Ferries temporarily stopped serving on the Baltic Sea. In Travemünde, the ferry to Priwall no longer ran in some cases, and the ferry line in Kiel was discontinued. The storm over the Baltic Sea also temporarily stopped German-Danish ferry traffic on the Puttgarden-Rødby and Rostock-Gedser routes.
After the railway line between Neumünster and Brokstedt was closed, regional traffic on the route was resumed in the afternoon. Many trains in Schleswig-Holstein ran at reduced speeds and there were delays. From 8 p.m., rail traffic between Eckernförde and Kiel, Rendsburg and Kiel and Husum and Kiel should be stopped.
Fewer problems in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
In Wismar, the flood flooded streets and parking lots. According to the police, the shipbuilders’ dam at “Am Hafen” and the adjacent parking spaces were not passable. According to the water police, the water level was 1.46 meters above normal at 6:15 p.m.
The water also rose significantly in Warnemünde. However, the promenade at the Alter Strom was not flooded by evening, so that walkers could walk to the pier. In Rostock the situation was quiet in the evening. In Binz on Rügen, a birch tree uprooted by the storm fell onto a car. Due to the storm, the Skywalk viewing platform at the chalk cliff remained closed on Friday. In Ahrenshoop, the storm surge washed away large parts of the sandy beach.
The minister responsible for coastal protection, Till Backhaus (SPD), warned people to be careful, even if the storm surge, at least for the majority of the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, cannot be classified as a severe storm surge according to current forecasts.
The Baltic Sea coast is repeatedly hit by devastating storm surges. Around 275 people died in the worst storm surge on the southwestern Baltic Sea coast in 1872. Numerous places on the Danish and German coast were affected.
The problem is completely different in the North Sea
The storm that pushed water onshore in the Baltic Sea pushed water away from the coast in the North Sea and caused extremely low water levels. This had an impact on shipping traffic. Numerous ferries to the islands and Halligen were canceled. “It’s extreme here at the moment with the wind and the weather. You don’t have that often,” said operations manager Nick Obert from the Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei.
