Thunderstorms and heavy rain have left their mark in some regions in western Germany. In parts of Baden-Württemberg, streets were flooded and streams swelled. Bisingen, southwest of Tübingen, was particularly hard hit, where, according to police, cellars and streets were under water in the early evening. The DRK reported around 60 deployment locations in the region. A police helicopter was also used. However, the police were unable to confirm reports of missing people.
According to the police, a street in Schriesheim, Baden-Württemberg, east of Mannheim, was under water and there were traffic delays. According to the police, a slope in nearby Heiligkreuzsteinach was in danger of slipping. In the state capital Stuttgart, lightning strikes led to several fire brigade operations. Some roads were closed. A lightning strike in the Sigmaringen area caused a broken signal box on the railway. According to Deutsche Bahn, no train journeys were possible in the region in the early evening. There were delays and partial cancellations.
Water from sewer system in hospital
The storm also had consequences in other federal states in the southwest and center of Germany: In Hesse, for example, heavy showers – accompanied by lightning and thunder – fell. In Frankfurt, according to the fire department, the heavy rain caused water to seep in from the sewage system at the Bethanien Hospital and also reach the intensive care area of the clinic. “We were able to contain the damage relatively quickly and prevent it from spreading,” said fire department spokesman Thorben Schemmel. Patient care is not at risk. The fire department sucked out the water early in the evening using special equipment.
Dark clouds over Frankfurt
No planes were routinely loaded or unloaded at Frankfurt Airport during the storm. This serves to protect the staff, explained a spokesman for the airport operator Fraport. Many evening departures and arrivals were delayed.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, the Eifel region was particularly affected in the early evening. According to the Trier police, there were initial reports of flooded streets after heavy rain and hailstorms. The Koblenz police headquarters reported isolated fallen trees.
In the afternoon, the first heavy thunderstorms had already moved through North Rhine-Westphalia. The German Weather Service registered the first focal points on Thursday afternoon in the Eifel, the Bergisches Land as well as in Cologne and Düsseldorf. In the afternoon in Dahlem in the Eifel, 36 liters per square meter were measured within one hour, and in Wuppertal there were 26 liters per hour per square meter.
Hagel in NRW
However, the consequences were not initially all that serious for North Rhine-Westphalia. A spokesman for the Cologne fire department said early in the evening that the first of two expected thunderstorms had now passed. There is no particular deployment volume.
DWD: The greatest danger comes from heavy rain
The German Weather Service (DWD) warns of possible thunderstorms with heavy rain in a strip from southwest Germany to the middle of the country. Local hailstorms and squalls are also possible into the night.
The greatest danger comes from heavy rain, which can sometimes last for several hours. Precipitation of up to 50 liters per square meter is possible within a few hours. The DWD cited the cause as a line that stretches from North Rhine-Westphalia to Bavaria and only slowly moves northeast, separating moist and cool air in the southwest from significantly warmer air in the rest of Germany. Thunderstorms form along this low-pressure channel – where exactly cannot be determined in advance.
According to the meteorologists, the thunderstorms will subside over the course of tomorrow, and in the west there could be rainfall of up to 35 liters per square meter within six hours until the morning. For the rest of Friday, the DWD forecast thunderstorms with heavy rain, but probably slightly lower amounts of precipitation, as well as stormy gusts and hail from Lausitz via eastern Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to Schleswig-Holstein.
