Firefighters are in action - Storm: Lightning strikes and overcrowded cellars in North Rhine-Westphalia
Thunderstorms caused lightning strikes and flooded streets overnight and on Tuesday evening in many parts of North Rhine-Westphalia. According to an initial report from the Ministry of the Interior, there were no fatalities or serious injuries, a spokeswoman confirmed upon request. However, there were more deployments than usual.
In Oberhausen, there were numerous deployments due to toppled trees and flooded basements. There was a brief power outage in one city district. In Würselen, several lightning strikes led to deployments. In one house, the roof caught fire and the house became uninhabitable.
A man suffered a head wound from hail in Duisburg. "All available deployment forces are in action," a spokesperson for the fire department said in the evening. Above all, flooding in basements and water under underpasses kept the helpers busy. A person was hit so hard by a hailstone that they suffered a head wound.
The police reported several flooded sections on the A59 and A42 near Duisburg. They warned of aquaplaning.
In Grevenbroich, a lightning strike set the roof trusses of two residential houses on fire on Tuesday evening. According to the fire department, the fire was quickly extinguished. There were also reports of lightning strikes in houses in other parts of the city. No one was injured.
In Moenchengladbach, around 70 weather-related deployments were handled in the evening. These mainly involved flooded basements and underpasses, lightning strikes in roofs, and alarms from automatic fire alarm systems.
The weather also affected rail traffic. Due to a lightning strike in a signal box, the station in Coesfeld is currently inaccessible, and repair work is ongoing, a spokeswoman said. There were also damages and delays on the line between Kempen and Krefeld due to a lightning strike in another signal box, which are still ongoing.
Near Hennef, a tree that was presumably toppled due to the storm unexpectedly ended the journey of 80 passengers on Tuesday. The tree "almost certainly fell due to the storm" onto the section of track between Siegburg/Bonn and Hennef, a spokesperson for the railway said. The 80 passengers then boarded another train at the location.
There were also weather-related deployments in the district of Wesel. In Moers, a tree was pushed onto the railway tracks, and streets were flooded in Friedrichsfeld. There was a lightning strike in the overhead line at a level crossing in Voerde.
In the city of Drolshagen in the south of NRW, there were emergency calls due to storm-related flooding of streets, toppled trees, and flooded basements, the fire department reported. Deployment forces from neighboring towns were also deployed. There were also increased deployments in Bonn, Haltern am See, and the municipality of Wachtberg in the Rhein-Sieg district.
The fire department spokesperson mentioned that "all available deployment forces are in action" in Duisburg. The Commission received emergency calls due to storm-related flooding and toppled trees in Drolshagen, requiring deployment forces from nearby towns.
