BOnce again, violent storms and heavy rain caused chaos in parts of Germany. Especially in the south and west of the Republic, people have to fight against house-filled cellars and flooded streets. On Wednesday morning, the weather in many places calmed down, but according to the German Weather Service (DWD), the eastern and northeastern parts of the country may be threatened by extreme storms again during the day.
The fire brigade announced on Tuesday night that in Frankfurt alone, more than 600 operations had been reported within two hours on Tuesday night. In a short period of time, heavy rainfall of up to 45 liters/m² will cause basements and garages to be full, and underground passages and passages will be flooded. As a result, manhole covers in many places were pushed up. In some parts of the city, train and bus traffic has stopped.
The severe storm also affected rail traffic in Bavaria. In Landshut, there is water on the streets of some cities. Many trees fell and the cellar was full of water. As the Integrated Control Center spokesperson said on Tuesday night, the Landshut Fire Brigade received more than 600 emergency calls.
When the European Cup football match between Germany and England kicked off, dark clouds and heavy rain and lightning thundered over the city. A torrent formed on the streets, cars were washed away, and the sewer system could no longer absorb water gushing out of the manhole cover. As Mirko Olzem of the Integrated Control Center said, water damaged the power tank and fuel tank. “It was a storm that only happened every five to ten years,” he added.
According to the fire brigade, it has rained heavily in Bochum since Tuesday night, and the water in some cellars has risen to the ceiling. As the fire brigade announced on Wednesday morning, in Krefeld, heavy rain also flooded cellars, streets and underground garages. A person there also suffered a fracture from a water fall. As of 2:00 in the morning, the Krefeld Fire Brigade Control Center has received more than 2,000 calls, including more than 800 emergency calls. Several callers reported that their vehicle was trapped in a submerged underground passage and was still on an open road in a water mass, so that they could no longer get off the vehicle by themselves.
On Wednesday morning, DWD initially lifted all warnings for severe thunderstorms. “The thunderstorm situation has calmed down temporarily,” it said in a message. “However, during the day, heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected to occur again in eastern and northeastern Germany.”
