Lightning, storm, hail: With low “Lambert”, storms have swept across large parts of Germany. Trees fell, streets were flooded, basements were full. Traffic on roads, rails and in the air was partly affected. All in all, the storm night was rather mild according to previous information.
In Upper Franconia, however, a mudslide caused a complete closure of Autobahn 9. According to the police, the roadway near Marktschorgast was covered with mud and gravel several hundred meters up to ten centimeters high on Friday night. The Autobahn was temporarily closed. A 16-kilometer traffic jam formed, in which there were several minor rear-end collisions.
As of Friday morning, no official severe weather warnings were in effect. The German Weather Service (DWD) expected heavy rain in some areas in northern and eastern Germany and individual thunderstorms in the east and in the Alps for Friday. The thunderstorm is moving to Poland, and the rain will also subside in the south-east and east on Saturday night.
Train traffic still affected
Train traffic is still affected in some parts of Germany. A spokeswoman for Deutsche Bahn said on Friday morning that several route closures have since been lifted. This applies, for example, between Berlin and Hamburg. The route is currently at least single-track passable. “There are delays of about 20 minutes.” The trains had previously been diverted via Stendal.
According to Deutsche Bahn, the Kassel-Göttingen route, which was still closed in the morning, can also be used as a single track. However, individual ICE and IC trains would have to be diverted between Göttingen and Fulda. “The stop in Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe will then be omitted. There will be delays of around 30 minutes,” said the railway spokeswoman.
In addition, there are still isolated regional effects on train traffic from the storm in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition to the already higher number of travelers on Fridays, Deutsche Bahn expects additional passengers. For this reason, the capacities would be increased.
flights cancelled
Delays were also expected at Munich Airport until noon. According to an airport spokesman, around 20 flights could not land in Munich between Thursday 7 p.m. and Friday 2 a.m. and were distributed to surrounding airports. 60 flights were cancelled. There were also some cancellations at the airports in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf on Thursday. In Düsseldorf, the storm hit the air travelers on the first day of the summer holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia.
According to the fire brigade, there were at least 420 operations in Düsseldorf’s neighboring city of Duisburg alone. Several people had to be rescued from vehicles stuck on flooded roads. Some streets in the city area were no longer passable due to flooding. In the Ruhr area city of Oberhausen, the fire brigade reported a weather-related accident on the A42: Accordingly, a taxi threw itself into the guardrail, the driver was uninjured.
Several federal states in the west, center and north-east were affected by the storm on Thursday, which swept over Germany until Friday. Videos and images of flooded roads and fallen trees were widely shared on social media. The fire brigade in the city of Braunschweig in Lower Saxony also counted hundreds of operations. Videos showed streets flooded and shops flooded. Trams and cars were stuck. There were similar recordings from the Hessian city of Kassel.
Lots of work for the fire department
The fire brigade brought many operations due to the weather conditions. For example, flooded cellars had to be pumped out. In the district of Neuwied in Rhineland-Palatinate, a tree fell on a moving car. “During another operation, people had to be rescued from their cars in a flooded underpass,” said the district’s fire and civil protection department.
In the Frankfurt suburb of Sindlingen, several cars were badly damaged by fallen trees. “The people were extremely lucky,” said a fire department spokesman in view of the downright flattened vehicles in a residential area. Numerous trees also fell on houses and cars in Hattersheim am Main, according to the fire brigade, a tornado was suspected here. The emergency services moved out to 94 missions.
The district of Harz reported a total of 228 storm operations. “The calls came in almost every minute. Heavy rain and hail in particular kept the fire department’s emergency services on their toes,” reported Christian Wenig, head of the integrated rescue control center. But there were no accidents or injuries. In Havelberg near Stendal, lightning struck a house and set the roof on fire, the police said. The damage is around 50,000 euros.
In many places, outdoor events have also been canceled – such as a concert by the British singer Sting in Lingen, Lower Saxony.
