In the first big storm of autumn, the Baltic Sea offers a spectacular and dangerous spectacle. The east wind thunders the water with hurricane gusts against beaches and cliffs, into bays and fjords and floods port facilities and streets. Branches fall onto cars and tracks, causing closures and disruptions.
A tree that fell in the storm killed a person in a car on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn in Schleswig-Holstein. The accident in the Ostholstein district occurred in the afternoon, a police spokesman said. Details about the victim’s identity were not immediately available.
The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) expected the storm surge to peak on Friday evening. In Flensburg, the water reached a level of more than two meters 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. In Eckernförde the water level was 1.91 meters and in Neustadt it was 1.74 meters compared to the mean water level. According to the German Weather Service (DWD), the storm should slowly subside during the night.
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 on Friday evening. 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.
The police asked road users to avoid the areas around the Flensburg Fjord, the north and south harbors in Kappeln and the areas bordering the Schlei in Schleswig. Numerous roads in the region were closed due to the flooding.
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.
Holidaymakers rescued from distress
On Fehmarn on Friday, the volunteer sea rescuers from the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked People came to the aid of ten vacationers and a dog who were surprised by the storm on their houseboats.
The Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) was preparing for operations. “We are monitoring the situation and are ready to provide assistance with our diverse options during and after the storm surge,” said THW President Sabine Lackner.
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
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is likely to get off largely unscathed from the storm surge. So far there have been no special incidents, said a police spokesman. The municipalities had prepared for flooding of some streets.
A tree fell on a railway line in Binz. However, the railway initially reported no disruption to traffic. In Wismar, people in the harbor area prepared themselves against flooding with sandbags. An intersection was flooded. The water also rose significantly in Warnemünde.
According to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD), the responsible state authorities hardly expect any damage from the current flood. “Our experts estimate that there is no need to worry about the coastal protection measures implemented on the Baltic Sea coast,” he said in Gützkow (Western Pomerania-Greifswald).
The Baltic Sea coast is repeatedly hit by devastating storm surges. In January 2017, water levels of up to 1.83 meters were measured. 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 island of Usedom was torn in two. The water was up to 2.80 meters above normal.
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.
