- Storms in Germany - Floods and accidents
Severe Storms with heavy rain and hail put emergency services in various parts of Germany to the test in the evening and night. Particularly affected were North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Bavaria - and Baden-Württemberg, where in Bruchsal a river overflowed its banks and flooded the old town of the district of Heidelsheim. The water reached up to 1.50 meters at its highest point, the local fire department reported. According to the flood center, the river Saalbach reached its highest level of over 2.13 meters at the Bruchsal gauge around 2:30 am, just above the mark for a so-called 100-year flood of 2.10 meters.
In other federal states, emergency services reported flooded cellars and flooded streets. There were no initial reports of serious injuries or deaths. The storms were preceded by a heat wave that reached its peak on Tuesday in Rhineland-Palatinate's Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler with temperatures up to 36.5 degrees Celsius - provisionally the hottest day of the year, according to the German Weather Service.
Water in basements and on streets
In Baden-Württemberg, the county of Karlsruhe was particularly affected by severe storms. The state's flood center warned on Tuesday evening that due to locally heavy rainfall, water levels in some streams and small rivers could rise significantly both at night and during Wednesday.
In Bruchsal, due to the flood situation in the district of Heidelsheim, the population was advised via a warning app to evacuate basements and ground floors in certain areas and to move to higher floors. Two helpers from the population were injured, the severity of their injuries was initially unclear. There were also floods in the city center of Bruchsal, for example in basements. However, the water levels have since dropped in both places.
The Karlsruhe police asked people to avoid non-essential journeys due to the storm situation. The county fire department association announced shortly before midnight that firefighters had handled over 500 deployments so far.
Uprooted tree blocks Eurocity from continuing journey
In Bavaria, an Eurocity near Bad Endorf collided with a tree that had fallen into the track and came to a halt. Around 260 people were on board the train, who were taken to Prien by minibuses, as the German Railway announced. According to the Federal Police, there were no injuries. The overhead line is damaged and needs to be repaired, the railway announced. The blocked section of track between Bad Endorf and Prien near the Chiemsee is expected to be cleared in the morning hours. Long-distance trains were diverted or ended their journeys prematurely.
There were also disruptions to rail traffic in the Lower Saxony district of Ammerland: Due to the storm, a tree fell onto an overhead line, causing the train traffic at Augustfehn station in Apen to stop completely late on Tuesday evening, according to the fire department. A passenger train on the track was also stopped.
Around 25 residents had to leave a care home
In East Frisia, heavy rainfall also led to hundreds of fire service deployments. The city of Aurich was particularly affected, as a spokesman for the operations center in Wittmund said. Around 25 residents had to be taken to a sports hall in the evening from a care home where ceiling panels had come loose. In an Aurich hospital, firefighters and the Technical Relief Agency were working to prevent an evacuation.
Basements Flooded in Duisburg Too
Heavy storms also left their mark in North Rhine-Westphalia. "All available emergency services are on the scene," a spokesperson for the Duisburg fire department said Tuesday evening. Nearly the entire city area was affected. The clear focus of the operations was water-related issues - flooded basements and underpasses. The police also reported several flooded sections on the A59 and A42 motorways near Duisburg and warned of hydroplaning.
In the text, it was mentioned that severe storms affected several federal states in Germany, specifically mentioning Lower Saxony. Here are two sentences that contain the word 'Lower Saxony' and follow from the given text:
Lower Saxony, along with North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg, experienced severe storms with heavy rain and hail.In the Lower Saxony district of Ammerland, a tree fell onto an overhead line, causing train traffic to stop completely at Augustfehn station in Apen.
