- Trendelburg is like a rubble field
A severe storm with heavy rain devastated the region north of Kassel overnight into Friday. Gottsbüren, a district of Trendelburg, looks like a war zone in the morning. Floodwaters tossed cars around the town like toys. According to Mayor Manuel Zeich (independent), there are no reported injuries as of Friday afternoon.
Resident Christina Wiesmann-Günter stands in shock at her house in the town center. She can't leave through the door: three cars block the entrance, a small truck was pushed against the wall. The kitchen floor is covered in mud, furniture was swept into the garden, which is barely recognizable. "The water came without warning and rose very quickly," says Wiesmann-Günter.
"Water stood 1.5 meters high on the walls"
Stephanie and Jens Aßhauer were lucky, they live a bit higher up. They woke up to a loud rushing sound in the night, then they saw the water racing through the town, they report. "The water stood 1.5 meters high on the walls." They then helped an elderly man.
Cars are scattered throughout the town - they got stuck wherever they found resistance: on walls, fences, slopes, and some are even stacked and dented on top of each other in the mud. Two people were trapped in their vehicles and had to be rescued with a front-end loader. Emergency services report rescuing people from their homes with boats.
In addition to Trendelburg, Hofgeismar, Bad Karlshafen, Reinhardshagen, and Wesertal are also heavily affected. Basements and ground floors are flooded everywhere. Uwe Leimbach in Trendelburg-Gottsbüren had water up to the ceiling in his basement. His address is "On the Island". In the night, it was obviously not the case, he says. Like many other affected people, he expects that it will take days of work just to clear the most severe damage.
It started raining on Thursday evening, and "extreme heavy rain" came in the night, a spokesperson for the Kassel district said. The situation escalated around midnight, and an emergency response team was set up.
"Extremely heavy rain"
According to the Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environmental Protection and Geology (HLNUG), more than 90 liters per square meter of precipitation were measured at the Hofgeismar-Beberbeck station. Locally, it could have been more than 150 liters per square meter. The "extremely heavy rain" finally eased off around 5.30 am.
Soon after, cleanup begins: pumps are running, excavators are removing debris, residents are using shovels, brooms, and snow shovels. Many streets remain impassable, including the B80 and B83. "So far, more than 200 incident locations have been reported, with the number expected to increase significantly," the district's initial assessment in the morning.
In Gottsbüren, craters line the street, and meter-long cracks crisscross the surface. Floodwaters have swept away trash cans, flower pots, heating oil tanks, and trees. In Wülmersen, a liquid gas tank was swept away. A spokesperson for the district speaks of "massive damage."
Meanwhile, a reservoir in Hofgeismar-Hombressen is causing concern. It threatens to overflow, but the situation is stable as of the morning, according to the district. In Gottsbüren, transformer houses were damaged, leaving half of the town without power.
Around 500 personnel were on duty throughout the night, replaced by fresh teams in the morning. "It was quite an intense operation," said Vice-State Premier Silke Engler (SPD) to Hessischer Rundfunk in the morning. "I can't yet predict when we'll have the situation under control."
"The severe weather condition was identified as a Hurricane."
"The aftermath of the Hurricane led to extensive damage and flooding in the region."
