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The storms and heavy rain that have caused damage and disruptions across Germany in the past few days are probably due to changes in the climate, said the head of the Stuttgart branch of the German Meteorological Service on Wednesday.
The extreme weather led to flooding in streets and basements and the toppling of trees. Emergency services, from Schleswig-Holstein in the north to Bavaria in the south, responded to hundreds of missions.
Meteorologist Uwe Schickedanz told the regional newspaper Südkurier that storms of this severity occurred more frequently.
“Thunderstorms live from the heat below and the cold above because the temperature differences are so great,” he explained. Rising temperatures therefore harbor the risk of stronger storms.
Emergency services overwhelmed
The fire brigade in the central German city of Frankfurt am Main had to declare a state of emergency after an overwhelming number of calls.
Precipitation reached up to 45 liters per square meter in some parts of the city, blocked roads, filled basements and even hit hospitals.
Floods caused chaos in the densely populated Ruhr area
The most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia was also affected. The emergency services in the city of Krefeld received over 2,000 emergency calls when the cellars and underground garages were filled with water.
The city of Landshut in Bavaria was particularly affected. Officials reported torrential flooding on roads in some areas and “massive property damage”.
The old town of Landshut was flooded on Tuesday evening
Deadly storm moves on
The storm also claimed deaths as many motorists lost control of their cars on flooded roads. A 23-year-old woman was killed in southwest Baden-Württemberg when a 40 meter high tree fell on her car.
A fallen tree in front of the Stuttgart Opera House
The German Weather Service announced on Wednesday that the storm in the south of the country had subsided on its way north. Officials in the northeastern federal states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the city of Berlin issued warnings.
The Czech Republic, which was hit by a tornado just under a week ago, was also affected by the storm. Around 145,000 houses were left without electricity, reported Deutschlandfunk.
ab / rt (AFP, dpa)
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