In North Rhine-Westphalia, a severe storm caused numerous fire brigade operations. The emergency services have to deal with much more than just property damage.
Düsseldorf – lightning, thunder and heavy rain: Thunderstorms over North Rhine-Westphalia kept the fire brigade in suspense at the weekend. According to a fire department spokesman, there were 244 weather-related missions in Cologne alone on the night from Saturday to Sunday (June 20th, 2021), as reported by the German press agency.
Most of the operations involved fallen trees or full cellars, but lightning strikes also caused destruction. The thunderstorm front had reached the Düsseldorf area late on Saturday evening, before the thunderstorm had moved from the southwest towards the Rhineland.
Weather in NRW: fire brigade rescues dog from burning roof truss
In the Rhein-Sieg district, the fire brigade was called to 120 operations because of fallen trees and overflowing basements. In the municipality of Much, lightning set a balcony on fire. Emergency services extinguished the flames, nobody was injured. In Königswinter, too, mud and water polluted the streets, and the fire brigade was reported several times about water in the cellar.
In Hagen, thunderstorms and heavy rain released rubble and earth from a slope on federal highway 54, which was covered over a length of 20 meters.
Thunderstorm: Motorists hit a traffic light in a storm
The strong thunderstorm was also a danger for animals: In Schalksmühle in the north-western Sauerland, emergency services rescued a dog from a burning roof structure. The entire roof had caught fire after a lightning strike, as the fire brigade announced on Sunday. The two residents were able to get to safety, one of the two came to a hospital for a medical examination.
Early on Sunday morning a 28-year-old driver skidded his car on a wet road in Krefeld and hit a traffic light. According to the police, the man was slightly injured, his 26-year-old passenger was seriously injured and was hospitalized.
Weather in NRW: Storm in Grevenbroich takes the whole roof with it
In Grevenbroich, a gust tore a massive wood and plexiglass roof on a single-family house from the construction, whirled it through the air and let it hit the roof overhead again. Parts of the plexiglass panes were blown into the neighboring house and injured a resident’s hand.
Rescue workers then spent hours collecting the rubble of the damaged roof structure in order to protect against further accidents. In addition, a cyclist injured himself on a street in Grevenbroich while driving through branches. Torn branches there had impaired the ride on the bike path.
Thunderstorm in North Rhine-Westphalia: Lightning strikes the campsite – the caravan catches fire
There was a power outage at a campsite due to the weather in the municipality of Möhnesee on the south bank. There, next to a caravan, a tree was struck by lightning, causing parts of the vehicle and surrounding vegetation to catch fire.
At around 3 a.m., guests of the campsite put out the fire with a fire extinguisher, as a fire department spokesman reported on Sunday.
More storms expected – higher risk in the south and east of the country
On Sunday evening (June 20th, 2021) thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected again in NRW. Starting from the Eifel, they would probably move north at night, said a meteorologist from the German Weather Service (DWD) on Sunday. In general, the risk of thunderstorms in the north-west and west of the country is lower than in the south and east.
Thunderstorms, squalls of up to 100 kilometers per hour, heavy rain and fine-grained hail are possible, occasionally also storm-like developments. Then even hurricane-like gusts of up to 105 kilometers per hour could form.
Weather in NRW: Cooling off after the thunderstorm – “not so humid and hot anymore”
However, the coming storm also means cooling for the night. According to the DWD, the values on the Lower Rhine are expected to drop to 14 degrees, in the rest of the country it will be between 16 and 18 degrees. On Monday (June 21st, 2021) the 30 degree mark will probably not be cracked, according to the DWD. The maximum values are between 24 and 27 degrees, “nowhere near as humid and hot as the last few days,” said the DWD expert. As early as Monday, there could be strong thunderstorms again in the course of the afternoon.
Storms were also predicted in Hesse on late Saturday evening and on Sunday night. (Anna Charlotte Groos with dpa)
