After a tornado in the community of Großheide in East Friesland, the massive damage becomes visible in daylight: the roofs of houses are covered and in some cases completely destroyed. There are fallen trees everywhere.
Aurich – A tornado with wind speeds estimated at 180 to 250 kilometers per hour caused great damage in a community in East Frisia.
The cyclone damaged more than 50 houses in Großheide on Monday evening, overturned vehicles and destroyed numerous trees. As if by a miracle, no one was injured, said the district fire department spokesman Manuel Goldenstein. The fire brigade was on duty all night with at times more than 100 people to clear roads and secure buildings. “It was sheer chaos that had to be cleared up,” said Goldenstein.
“It is catastrophic”
The extent of the damage in the community of around 8,500 inhabitants in the Aurich district could not be foreseen on Tuesday. Mayor Fredy Fischer said the hurricane left a devastation that stretched through the Berumerfehn district to the neighboring Ostermoordorf district. “It’s catastrophic.” According to the fire department, five houses are no longer habitable because parts of the building were torn out by the storm. All the residents who had become homeless came to live with neighbors.
Johann Graver and his family from Berumerfehn were also affected by the tornado. Where the front gable of his family house used to be, only remains of insulating mats and wooden beams hang. The cyclone overturned a motorhome in front of Graver’s entrance.
“At that moment everything crashed in our house, too,” said Graver. The windows were blown open. His 21-year-old daughter, who was on the first floor at the time of the storm, reacted with presence of mind and sought cover. “It all happened so quickly.”
Classification as a tornado
The German Weather Service (DWD) confirmed on Tuesday that it was a moderate tornado. “On the basis of eyewitnesses and video material, one can clearly say it was a tornado last night,” said DWD tornado expert Andreas Friedrich. Previously, other weather sites such as “Tornadoliste.de” had classified the storm as a tornado.
The hurricane in Großheide was classified in category F2 on the Fujita scale, which indicates the damage class – such tornadoes are comparatively rare in Germany, explained Friedrich. Annually, an average of between 20 to 60 tornadoes are detected in Germany.
Volunteers, craftsmen and rescue workers began the clean-up work on Tuesday. Mayor Fischer said that the population was very helpful. There are many people willing to help “who just lend a hand.” Roofers and construction companies were on hand to repair damage. Homeowners were sweeping up rubble. dpa
