Flood in NRW: firefighter dies in rescue operation – big city declares a state of emergency

Heavy rain and heavy thunderstorms: The DWD warns of heavy storms in NRW. The Rhine overflows its banks in Cologne, and Düsseldorf is evacuating a district due to flooding. It looks particularly bad in a city.

Update from July 14th, 8:05 p.m .: Bitter news from NRW: During rescue work after the heavy rain, a firefighter died in the small town of Altena. This was confirmed by a spokesman for the police in the Märkischer Kreis. The WDR had previously reported on the tragic case. The firefighter is said to have drowned. He was swept away by the floods and drowned in the process.

“We are currently assuming a tragic accident,” said a police spokesman: “The district of Nette has been in the focus of the fire brigade since midday. The water presses from all sides. ”The small town with just under 18,000 inhabitants is cut off from the outside world because of the floods and masses of mud. All access roads are cordoned off. Altena is located in the Sauerland on the river Lenne. And that on a hillside. As the WDR further reports, masses of water and mud also slipped from the slopes above into the small town.

Floods and floods in North Rhine-Westphalia: State of emergency declared in Hagen

Update from July 14th, 7:50 p.m.: The city of Hagen, which was particularly hard hit by the floods in North Rhine-Westphalia, has now declared a state of emergency. Help from the Bundeswehr is requested. The soldiers are supposed to help clear roads, access routes and infrastructure again.

The Hagen police wrote on Twitter in the afternoon: “Please help others in need & if in doubt, dial the emergency number. Also, check out neighbors and ask if everything is ok. This is especially important for older people / people with illnesses etc. who are not fit. “

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Floods and floods in North Rhine-Westphalia: Flooding in the district of Aachen feared

Update from July 14th, 7:10 p.m.: The heavy rain threatens to flood the historic city center of Kornelimünster in Aachen. This is reported by the news portal 24rhein.de * . The level in the Inde River in the district continues to rise, and floods are feared. The fire brigade is preparing an emergency shelter, it continues. Kornelimünster has a historic town center and is located in the southeast of the 250,000-inhabitant city of Aachen.

Update from July 14th, 6 p.m.: The current storm in Germany with heavy rain, floods and floods has the west of the Federal Republic firmly under control. In many places there are also considerable impairments in road traffic. According to the news portal 24rhein.de, the A44 motorway was blocked in both directions from the Düsseldorf-Nord intersection *. Anyone who is on the road despite the storm will be rerouted.

Floods and floods in NRW: Highest storm warning for the Rhineland

Update from July 14th, 5.30 p.m .: The weather in Germany * remains extreme in July: For Wednesday evening the German Weather Service (DWD) has a severe weather warning * of the highest level for the Rhineland between Aachen, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Bonn as well as for that western Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland are issued. There it should continue to rain heavily with considerable amounts of precipitation. In Saarbrücken, attempts are currently being made in vain to salvage a floating ship because of the flood.

First report from July 14th : Munich / Cologne / Düsseldorf – alarm in NRW! The heavy rain * caused flooding and flooding in many parts of North Rhine-Westphalia. The situation in Hagen is particularly dramatic. Masses of mud and water * have completely flooded a district according to Der Westen.

Floods and floods in North Rhine-Westphalia: Hagen asks the Bundeswehr for help, Düsseldorf reacts

The city has now even asked the German Armed Forces for help in clearing the infrastructure of mud and clearing roads. Parts of the city center are no longer passable due to the flood. Videos and photos on social media show streets, cars and other vehicles that are inundated by the masses of water. Because of the extreme storm, the city has set up the first emergency shelters for citizens who cannot go back to their homes for the time being.

The situation in the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia is also alarming. In Düsseldorf (around 620,000 inhabitants) the crisis team asked the citizens of the Ostpark settlement to “voluntarily leave” their homes because of the floods *. The metropolis of Cologne (around 1.08 million inhabitants) is also fighting against the floods *. The fire brigade is in constant use, the first footbridges are being built. In many places the Rhine has already overflowed its banks. Only on Wednesday lunchtime did the Cologne fire brigade say it was deployed around 100 times.

Floods and floods in North Rhine-Westphalia: Very high water levels expected in Cologne due to continuous rain

According to the Cologne Express , the metropolis on the Rhine is still facing the trickiest phase of the flooding. So the level should rise again significantly on Thursday, in the morning a water level of about 5.70 meters should be reached. On Friday morning, a level of 7 meters is expected to be exceeded. The reason for this is the continuous rain with still very high amounts of precipitation in parts of Germany *. Water levels of up to 8 meters cannot be ruled out in Cologne.

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The infrastructure in the Rhineland has also been significantly affected by the floods. As of Wednesday afternoon, nothing was happening on the crossing from the A555 from Bonn to the A4 to Aachen. The railway has meanwhile blocked the route between Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof and Wuppertal-Vohwinkel because of the floods. Also between Herzogenrath and Aachen Hauptbahnhof there is currently no more rail traffic due to the storm. (pm) * Merkur.de and rhein24.de are offers from IPPEN.MEDIA

Rubriklistenbild: © Christopher Neundorf via www.imago-images.de