The fears were great – but the storms have so far only caused minor damage in the west. In most cases, the authorities reported fallen trees and blocked tracks.
Despite fallen trees and disruptions to air and rail traffic, the storm in the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia was initially a little less severe than predicted. The thunderstorm front reached NRW in the afternoon via the southwest near Aachen and then moved across the Rhineland, the Münsterland and the Ruhr area. In many places the sky suddenly darkened. There was local heavy rain, thunder and lightning. Later, the thunderstorm front moved further across South Westphalia in the direction of East Westphalia-Lippe.
A man was seriously injured in a lightning strike on a cargo ship in Duisburg. For security reasons, Düsseldorf Airport stopped operating for around 30 minutes in the afternoon. Half a dozen fallen trees were reported on the Lower Rhine and in Münsterland, and railway lines were blocked. A tree fell on the north-south main line between Düsseldorf and Leverkusen.
In Cologne, heavy rain, hurricanes and hail caused dozens of fire brigade operations: there were flooded basements, loose roof tiles and scaffolding, broken branches and fallen trees on streets and railway tracks.
As reported by Deutsche Bahn, rail traffic to Germany in the neighboring Netherlands had to be temporarily suspended due to the thunderstorm. The route from Cologne to Amsterdam was particularly affected. There were delays and cancellations.
Because of the risk of storms, the city of Krefeld had temporarily brought the refugees from Ukraine who were housed in lightweight halls in the forest to a school. In Ahaus in Münsterland, the castle garden was closed because several large trees had fallen, as the city announced. The Düsseldorf wildlife park and the Dortmund zoo were closed in the afternoon due to the announced storm. As a precaution, the animals of the zoo were brought into the indoor enclosure.
There was no major damage in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland until the evening. The police headquarters in Mainz reported a handful of operations, including a fallen scaffolding and a car damaged by falling branches. Nobody was injured.
In Trier, a person suffered minor injuries when she drove her car over a fallen tree, according to the local police headquarters. In addition, a freight train drove into a tree lying on the track. The praesidia in Kaiserslautern, Koblenz and Ludwigshafen did not record any incidents related to the weather.
The situation in Hesse is similar – no one was injured and no major damage. Police headquarters in Fulda, Darmstadt and Offenbach reported some fallen trees and covered bricks. In Frankfurt, Kassel, Giessen and Wiesbaden, the respective praesidia did not report any special events in connection with the weather situation.
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