The violent thunderstorm that swept across Middle Franconia on Friday night kept the emergency services busy throughout the night. The city of Nuremberg is hardest hit. The Integrated Control Center (ILS) reports a peak of 626 missions; that was around 9:00 p.m. Mainly underpasses, underground car parks and cellars filled up due to the enormous amounts of water.
Storm in Middle Franconia: fire brigade saves people from basements
Two people had to be rescued by the fire brigade from their flooded basements. According to current knowledge, there are no injuries. Most of the deployment sites could be processed during the night, but 32 deployment sites were still open early in the morning, reports the fire brigade.
A spokesman said: “I’ve been on duty since 1990 but I’ve never seen anything like it.” The storm also caused damage to transformer stations, causing the power to fail in a number of parts of the city.
Historical city wall collapsed in Weißenburg
Most power supply damage is fixed by morning. According to the police, the historic city wall in Weißenburg collapsed over a length of 25 meters because it was soaked with water.
In the area of the integrated control center Central Franconia South, the storm has passed over the districts of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen and Roth. The fire brigade was called to more than 40 storm operations. Hundreds of trees fell on state road 2222 near Ramsberg and some fell on vehicles. Twelve people were affected, three were injured and taken to a hospital, including a one and a half week old baby.
Car trapped in masses of water
According to the municipal network operator “N-Ergie”, there was a power failure in several districts of Nuremberg on Thursday evening. Many traffic lights were also affected. Several underpasses also filled with water. The underpass in Nopitschstraße in the Schweinau district filled with water so quickly that the drivers had to flee their cars. According to eyewitnesses, a family with two children saved themselves at the last minute. First responders got trapped drivers out of the floods. The heavy rain also caused basements and underground car parks to fill up – but entire streets were also flooded. The Frankenschnellweg, the inner-city part of Autobahn 73, had to be partially closed.
Firefighters appealed to people to stay at home
Strong gusts of wind caused trees to fall on Rathenauplatz. The Nuremberg fire brigade speaks of an “area use” throughout the city. The traffic had actually collapsed, all volunteer defenses had moved out or were on the alert. In the case of the fire brigade, the lines were partially overloaded despite the increase in personnel. She called on people to stay at home and only call the emergency services in “absolute emergencies”. The German Weather Service had previously warned of severe storms in parts of Bavaria.
No reports of serious injuries so far
So far there have been no reports of serious injuries, as the police and fire brigade announced in the evening on request. But there was considerable damage from falling roof tiles or fallen trees or broken branches. The police could not give an estimate of the amount of property damage in the evening.
Prime Minister Söder praises the work of all helpers
After the storm, the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder spoke up and expressed his condolences to all those affected on Twitter. He also thanked all fire brigades from Nuremberg and the surrounding area, THW, rescue services and the police for their “excellent work”.