Hours of continuous rain flooded parts of Franconia with meadows, streets and sometimes entire stretches of land. The sewer system, rivers and streams were in places overwhelmed and could no longer absorb the water masses. The disaster was declared in the district of Neustadt an der Aisch-Bad Windsheim and in the city of Ansbach. In Ansbach, the discovery of an aerial bomb from the Second World War had tied up emergency services. After 2,360 people had left their homes, the bomb was successfully defused, a city spokesman said in the evening.
The rains subsided in the evening. The weather services did not predict any more rain for the night. Large parts of Franconia should also remain dry on Saturday.
“Whole streets have turned into streams,” said Matthias Hirsch, spokesman for the Neustadt an der Aisch-Bad Windsheim district. The area has been declared a disaster due to floods, landslides and uprooted trees. In many other Franconian regions, too, cellars overflowed and brooks and rivers overflowed their banks.
“That is something that has not yet been seen here,” said Hirsch. “Sometimes whole towns were cut off from the outside world.” One could speak of a dramatic situation that had not yet relaxed on Friday afternoon. Numerous streets and paths in the district were flooded at night and in the morning. Many properties and cellars were also under water. Classes in schools have been discontinued. But nobody was injured – the control centers of the other affected areas in Franconia also reported this on Friday.
According to the Bavarian flood news service, the water levels in the area rose rapidly. The Zenn at Stöckach rose within a few hours by around 2.50 meters to an all-time high. Sulzach or Altmühl also recorded some meter-high climbs.
A large rain complex had moved from the south over Bavaria from the night to Friday, as Marcel Schmid, meteorologist at the German Weather Service (DWD) explained. It rained extensively at night and in the morning, and especially a lot came down in Franconia. There was a particular focus west of Nuremberg. 31 liters per square meter fell between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. at Bonnhof (Ansbach district). According to the integrated control center in Schweinfurt, areas in Lower Franconia were also hit hard by the storms. At Ebern (Haßberge district) there were two landslides on country roads. A fallen tree has meanwhile made a railway line impassable. In addition, the rescue workers often had to move out because of full basements and flooded streets. In an animal shelter threatened by flooding, the animals panicked. There were also many missions in the Schweinfurt district, some villages were under water and cut off from the outside world. Flood warnings were valid on Friday in addition to the areas around Ansbach and Neustadt an der Aisch for the districts of Forchheim, Bamberg and Coburg, as emerged from the warnings of the flood news service Bavaria on Friday. There was a warning against “flooding for built-up areas”. Also in many other regions, especially in the north and west of Bavaria, warnings of “embankments and floods” were issued.
In Herzogenaurach (district of Erlangen-Höchstadt), the police have meanwhile warned of a 60 centimeter high tidal wave on the Aurach river. Cars parked in a nearby parking lot should be driven away immediately, it said. There were 150 storm-related missions around Nuremberg.
In Wilhermsdorf (Fürth district) many people were without electricity. There was a complete power outage in the center, said district fire chief Frank Bauer. But he reckons that the damage can be repaired in the evening, said Bauer. In addition to the village, the communities of Langenzenn and Veitsbronn are also affected by floods. They are also located on the Zenn River. According to the fire brigade, an “impressive number of cellars” were full in the Bamberg district. Federal highway 22 had to be closed in the meantime due to flooding, said a fire department spokesman.
In addition, the area around Hof was hit: 70 missions still need to be processed, said a spokesman for the Hochfranken integrated control center. Cellars and streets were flooded, trees were snapped. But there were no injuries.