In the south and west, severe storms mean that the rescue services are constantly on duty. In Oberstdorf, debris blocked several roads. Lightning strikes and fallen trees bring rail traffic to a standstill in some places.
Heavy thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail have moved over parts of Bavaria and the Rhineland. Fortunately, there have been no reports of injuries so far. In Kempten, a lightning strike shut down the railway signal box, and trains were temporarily stopped on the route to Kaufering. In Oberstdorf there were mudslides, several roads were blocked by debris and water, and the cellars and stables were full of water.
In the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the fire brigade had to go out on dozens of missions. A spokesman for the Oberland integrated control center said that hail had destroyed skylights and that water had entered Aldi in Oberau. The federal highway 2 was briefly impassable in Oberau. Cellars were flooded. There were two storm operations in the Bad Tölz district. The German Weather Service had warned of extreme thunderstorms for the region and declared the highest warning level.
In the Rhineland, Duisburg was particularly affected. The phones in the Baerl district were down, reported the fire brigade, which had to deal with 300 storm operations in a short time. In the case of operations without danger to people, it could take a while for the fire brigade to arrive.
In neighboring Mülheim/Ruhr, an approximately 20 meter high oak tree was probably split by a lightning strike. Half of a tree fell on a two-storey house and damaged the roof. A car was buried by the tree. People were not harmed.
In Krefeld, streets and cellars were flooded, trees fell down – including on the train route between Krefeld and Meerbusch, which was temporarily blocked as a result. In Cologne, the fire brigade reported 32 missions via Twitter. Trees had fallen there too.
