Storm low “Poly” swept across large parts of northern Germany and claimed at least one fatality. An uprooted tree buried a pedestrian in Rhede an der Ems in Lower Saxony, the police said. The woman was trapped and died at the scene of the accident. The 64-year-old was walking her dog when storm “Poly” hit Germany in the morning.
“That’s really extreme for a summer storm,” said a meteorologist from the German Weather Service (DWD), referring to the expected gusts of up to 130 kilometers per hour. In addition, some heavy rain and isolated thunderstorms were predicted in the coastal regions in the north and large parts of Lower Saxony and Bremen. According to the operators, many ferries – including those near Baltrum, Langeoog, Wangerooge and between Cuxhaven and Heligoland – only ran to a limited extent from Wednesday afternoon or remained in the port.
Police and firefighters responded to hundreds of operations in the affected regions. But it was mostly smaller operations – such as roof tiles or branches that threatened to fall, said a spokeswoman for the Hamburg fire brigade.
For example, in Lower Saxony, several trees fell on the tracks, said a spokeswoman for the railway. The disruption on the route between Bremen and Norddeich Mole should last until the early evening hours. According to the railways, individual regional trains were also canceled between Bremen and Bremerhaven-Lehe and between Hamburg and Westerland due to the storm. The storm also led to impairments in long-distance traffic on Deutsche Bahn. Among other things, connections to the Netherlands were affected, as the group announced.
Parts of the Netherlands also affected
The storm also disrupted traffic in the neighboring country. In the northern half of the Netherlands, rail traffic was suspended, some motorways were closed, some schools and parks were closed and in some cities the buses remained in the depots. A 51-year-old woman was killed in Haarlem when a tree fell on her car.
For the students of the 49 general and vocational schools in Oldenburg and the 25 schools in Delmenhorst, classes ended at 10 a.m. to be on the safe side – they received their certificates there before the end of school and could go straight into the summer holidays.
According to estimates by the DWD, the storm “Poly” should sweep across the north until the evening. Thunderstorms with heavy rain are also possible locally within a short time. “The closer you are to the coast, the more dangerous it is,” said a DWD meteorologist. But the wind was also raging inland at more than 100 kilometers per hour.
According to the DWD, the wind is slowly decreasing on Thursday night. “On Thursday we won’t feel anything more from the storm.” According to the forecast, heavy clouds will then alternate with individual showers or brief thunderstorms, with sunny intervals in between.
