In Bavaria, heavy thunderstorms fell locally on Sunday evening, which brought heavy rain, hail and strong winds. A storm cell moved across parts of the Oberland and caused damage. A hunter died in Eglfing when a raised stand was torn from its anchorage.
The 57-year-old forester from the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district was a guest on a hunt in a forest near Eglfing. According to police, he was surprised by the severe storm. Hunting colleagues found the man lifeless under an overturned stand in the evening, any help came too late for him. The criminal police in Weilheim started an investigation. According to initial findings, the high stand was hit by a strong gust of wind and torn from its anchoring. He fell to the ground, with the 57-year-old, who is believed to have been in the pulpit, sustained the fatal injuries.
In Upper Bavaria numerous trees buckled, roof tiles were covered, barn doors pushed in and Dixi toilets flew many meters through the area. In Schlehdorf in the Upper Bavarian district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, around 43 liters of rain fell on the square meter at 6 p.m., according to the German Weather Service (DWD).
In the districts of Weilheim-Schongau, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, there were sometimes several dozen fire brigades because of flooded cellars, flooded streets and fallen trees.
In Huglfing a church tower was covered, in Habach a tree fell on a car. Two people were slightly injured. In the vicinity of the Irschenberg motorway exit, federal road 472 was flooded. As stated on the website of the BR, the fire brigade was up to the waist in the water, motorists had to drive through flooded areas. In addition, there was a small mudslide on Staatstrasse 18 between Großschwaig and Auerschmied. Mud and gravel could be quickly removed by farmers, tractors and the fire brigade. Bundesstraße 2 was also temporarily blocked.
According to the fire brigade, there were 87 storm-related missions in the Weilheim district, 18 in the Bad Tölz district and 35 in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district.
The German Weather Service had warned of strong thunderstorms with heavy rain of up to 50 liters per square meter for the Alpine region. During the night, the storm should move towards the Chiemgau and Lower Bavaria and then move east. Which districts are affected and when, explains the German Weather Service here.
Storm on Sunday night
In some places there were severe storms from Saturday to Sunday in Swabia, Upper Bavaria and Franconia, as the police announced on Sunday. The police in Swabia recorded several missions due to minor floods. In the meantime, hailstones the size of golf balls would have come down from the sky in the region around Kempten. Compared to the floods of the past few weeks, however, there was no major damage or flooding in the Free State.
Herrmann wants to expand the warning siren network
After the severe storms of the past few weeks, Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann wants to massively expand the warning siren network in Bavaria. “Our goal is to double the number of sirens in Bavaria to around 26,000. With a closer-knit siren network, we will be able to warn the population of Bavaria even better around the clock about catastrophic and dangerous situations,” said Herrmann on Sunday. “Especially at night and when life is threatened, we need the piercing siren warning to be able to reach everyone as quickly as possible.”
Herrmann did not provide any details on the time frame and costs. Sirens are particularly intended to encourage people to find out about details from the media. In some areas there is no longer a siren system.