Disruption and chaos in German cities due to heavy storms and showers

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, the newspaper “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” wrote in a report: A severe storm called “Zoltan” has swept northern Germany with strong winds and torrential downpours, causing disruptions just before Christmas. Flooding on the North Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein reached its expected peak on Friday morning.

The German Meteorological Service reports that storms with speeds of over 100 km/h are possible on Friday evening. Deutsche Bahn expects more restrictions on passenger transportation due to these weather conditions.

Rail transportation was severely affected on Thursday due to these weather conditions. There were many cancellations and delays in regional and intercity transportation due to storm damage. The spokesperson of the railway said on Thursday evening: “In some cases, the damages can be evaluated in broad daylight.” Railway lines in the north are particularly affected.

According to preliminary information, long-distance trains between Hamburg/Hanover, Kassel and Frankfurt/Stuttgart/Basel as well as Würzburg and Munich will be canceled on Friday. . There are individual delays and cancellations between Berlin/Leipzig/Erfurt and Frankfurt. ICE and IC trains between Cologne and Kassel will also be canceled for the time being. According to information on Friday, no ICE and IC trains stop at Marienhafe, Norden, Norddeich and Norddeich Mole. EC train routes in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein are also affected.

There were also weather-related delays and cancellations in regional transport on Thursday, which continued late last night. had Near Hamburg, traffic was stopped on some routes.

Strong gusts and storms not only caused trees to fall on the tracks, but also on the roads. Christmas markets closed early or were closed altogether and ferries were canceled, including on the route between Rostock and Gedser in Denmark. In addition, the Fehmarnsund Bridge in Schleswig-Holstein was completely closed, according to police. In Fahrdorf, one person was seriously injured when his car hit a tree that had fallen on the road.

The Lower Saxony State Water Management, Coastal and Nature Management (NLWKN) has issued a flood warning for the entire state. . In many places, rivers overflowed their banks and flooded forested and agricultural areas.

Friday night, water from the Elbe river flooded Hamburg’s fish market and the surrounding streets. The water sometimes rose up to the waist. Since not all the cars were driven in time, they also got flooded. Overnight, the fire department and police searched for people trapped in cars still parked in the flooded area. It will be above average. According to the police, going to the affected area should be avoided. According to this information, the peak of the flood is expected to be around 11:00 AM at the St. Pauli gauge with a height of 3.25 meters above the average flood.

Air transportation was also partially affected by this weather condition. Hessen’s Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Friday that 43 planes were delayed at Frankfurt Airport due to Thursday’s storm. One runway was temporarily unusable.

Bonn City Police received 76 emergency calls due to the storm. A police spokesman said Friday morning that no injuries were reported in either case. The operation mainly involved downed trees and damaged vehicles, with firefighters deployed between Thursday afternoon and shortly before midnight. In two cases, residential houses were damaged.

As the Fire Department announced, in one case, parts of the roof and facade of a house fell onto the street and damaged several cars. In the Pennfeld region, a tree about 20 meters high fell on several terraced houses, damaging the roof and facade.

In Saxony-Anhalt, stormy weather caused several trees to fall and branches on Friday night. And the traffic signs were broken. As the Stendhal police announced on Friday morning, in Salzodel and Gomern (Jerikov Land region), two people were slightly injured. According to police, a Van der Salzudel vehicle went off the road due to strong winds and a tree fell on a car in Gomern.

A fir tree fell on Federal Highway 407 near Zerf. . The police wrote that there was a lot of damage to the car. The road was completely closed for about half an hour.

This storm caused damage worth 130,000 euros in Central Hesse.

Fire departments in Dusseldorf, Gladbeck, Dinslaken, Hattingen, Bochum. , Detmold and Münster, among others, reported operations due to falling trees. In Dusseldorf, a tree fell onto a street and a car passenger was slightly injured.

Due to the storm, the city of Cologne asked Christmas market operators to close early Thursday. The Christmas market in Bielefeld was also canceled on Thursday due to the storm, the city’s marketing department said. Markets in Essen, Duisburg and Dusseldorf were also closed as a precaution.

A woman was killed at a Christmas market in Belgium when a 20-meter Christmas tree fell. The tree fell on three people, one of whom died after a short time in the hospital due to severe injuries.

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