After storms: extent of infrastructure damage unclear

Destroyed rails and bridges, blocked motorway sections – and the cellular network is still patchy: the storms have massively damaged the infrastructure in many places. The exact extent is still unclear.

After the storms in parts of Germany, the transport infrastructure in the affected regions was severely damaged. How extensive the damage is is not yet available.

According to the Autobahn GmbH, there were at least no more significant floods in the Rhineland, even given the easing of the weather. However, there are still several full closures on two motorways, which will probably continue for a long time. A blockage affects the A1 in the direction of Koblenz between the Cologne-West motorway junction and the Erfttal motorway triangle, and the A1 in the direction of Dortmund between the Erfttal motorway triangle and the Hürth junction is also fully blocked.

There is still a bottleneck on the A1 in the direction of Koblenz between the Cologne-Lövenich and Cologne-Bocklemünd junctions. On the A61 there is a full closure in both directions between the Kerpen and Meckenheim motorway junctions in almost all sections due to significant damage as a result of the storm.

600 kilometers of tracks affected

The disruptions to rail traffic in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate will probably continue for a longer time. According to the Deutsche Bahn, tracks are more than 600 kilometers long. According to this, an initial picture of the situation revealed “massive damage to more than 80 stations and stops, tracks over 600 kilometers in length, switches, signaling technology, signal boxes, bridges and vehicles used in regional, S-Bahn and freight traffic”. However, there is still no comprehensive picture of the situation.

We are working at full speed to record all damage. An initial balance sheet could only be drawn in the coming days – because water still has to drain off in many places, and then mud and rubble have to be removed.

Radio stations cut off from the network

The cellular network is still patchy in the affected areas. The mobile operator Vodafone stated that a sixth of the radio stations were still cut off from the network. Many locations were badly damaged or completely destroyed by the flood. Vodafone said it was hopeful that basic services could be restored in the entire disaster area this week.

Task force in the Ministry of Transport

According to a spokesman for Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU), work is being done to ensure that destroyed bridges, tracks, roads and cell phone masts can be repaired as quickly as possible. A task force met today in the Federal Ministry of Transport. Representatives of Deutsche Bahn and the federal motorway company also took part.

In a first step, the existing picture of the situation should be completed and consolidated, it said. At the same time, as far as possible, a damage assessment should be carried out in order to determine the likely costs of repairing the damage and to immediately start the reconstruction of the destroyed and damaged infrastructure. To this end, the need for further action is identified and prioritized in individual working groups for road, rail, waterways and digital infrastructures.

Scheuer told the “Passauer Neue Presse” and the “Donaukurier” that it was still too early for a complete list of the damage. “If 20 of the 35 bridges on the Ahr have been destroyed, then you can already imagine the huge task that lies ahead of us,” he added. On the Rhein-Ahr-Bahn alone, seven bridges and 27 kilometers of track systems were destroyed by the flood.