Violent storms keep the rescue workers in suspense in parts of Germany. In Saxony, a man is swept away by a flash flood. In NRW, residents of a place are called upon to refrain from showering.
Berlin – Heavy rain led to accidents and numerous fire services in parts of Germany on Wednesday night. In the Saxon Erzgebirgskreis a man is carried away by a river.
The fire brigade initially canceled the search during the night, the police said. The man had tried on Tuesday evening in Jöhstadt to secure his property against the overflowing river. More detailed information was initially not available.
The German Weather Service warned of continuous rain in parts of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate as well as in Saarland, in some cases the highest severe weather warning level was due to extremely heavy continuous rain. Until Thursday morning, further rainfall of 70 to 120 liters per square meter can be expected.
Helpers in constant use
After the violent storms on Wednesday night with heavy flooding, the district of Hof in Bavaria lifted the disaster in the morning. The district office in Hof announced that the weather situation has relaxed in the past few hours. But there is still a lot to do. The emergency services are on the road throughout the district to clean up.
More than 50 fire brigades with almost 1000 people as well as 140 members of the Technical Relief Organization (THW) were in constant use to pump water from cellars and to procure sandbags. The city of Selbitz was particularly hard hit by the storm. The emergency services had to come there over 120 times. The primary school in Selbitz and some daycare centers in Selbitz, Köditz and Naila will be closed on Wednesday.
As a spokesman for the police announced on Wednesday morning, there were road closures in the entire district due to flooding and a traffic accident with two slightly injured people. Accordingly, a car slipped on a wet road against a guardrail.
Streets and cellars were flooded, trees fell, and in some cases the power went out. Fire detectors also sounded the alarm. Initially, nothing was known of the injured. The helpers worked all night, said a spokesman for the Hof fire department in the morning.
“The people are desperate”
In North Rhine-Westphalia, too, the fire brigade had to pump out numerous cellars. “The people are desperate,” said the spokesman for the Hagen police headquarters in view of the multitude of full cellars in the city. In addition, due to the flooded streets, vehicles began to slide in places. Injured persons were not known. Mud masses were also washed onto roads from slopes, so many districts were not passable. In the state capital Düsseldorf, the fire brigade deployed around 330 times.
In Erkrath, residents are encouraged to “not produce any more wastewater and, if possible, only use the toilet” City via Facebook. Due to the persistent heavy rainfall, the sewers are very overcrowded.
In Altena in the Sauerland, the emergency services fought against water, earth and debris, said a fire department spokesman. From the surrounding slopes, large amounts of water fell onto the city in several places, causing “massive slips”. “Our main focus is on the city center.” So far, there have been no injuries.
The day before, the German Meteorological Service had warned that with the relocation of low “Bernd”, more heavy rain areas would move in the direction of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate and could cause persistently high levels of precipitation into Thursday. The weather experts expected heavy rain and thunderstorms until at least Friday.
Shipping discontinued
Highest alert level also on Lake Lucerne: After the heavy rainfalls and the storms of the past few days, the lake in central Switzerland threatens to overflow its banks. The Federal Office for the Environment imposed the highest danger level 5. Shipping was stopped. The situation is similarly tense at several other lakes. Shipping was also stopped on the Rhine near Basel.
“We have to expect larger amounts of precipitation on the north side of the Alps until Friday,” said hydrologist David Folken from the Federal Office for the Environment on Swiss radio.
The situation at the campsites by waterways is sometimes quite dramatic, said the President of the Association of Swiss Campings, Marcel Zysset. Due to the weather, operators advised guests who did not have to travel too long to leave and possibly come back for the weekend. Guests whose vacation would end this weekend are advised to leave early. dpa
