The day after the storm, Hamburg is still standing, the sun even comes out for a few seconds. The sun, which you can only guess at for weeks because it almost always rains or storms or both. Even seasoned northerners, for whom the weather is usually a question of clothing, are unhappy with this winter. Although storms in the north are part of the program, even 60 years after the February 1962 disaster, when hundreds died. Zeynep was significantly less severe but was turbulent and fatal in at least three cases nationwide.
The deaths were reported from North Rhine-Westphalia, where two people died in vehicles. And from Lower Saxony’s North Sea coast, where a 68-year-old fell from a roof that he wanted to repair. There are said to have been ten victims across Europe.
Otherwise, the storm blew in northern Germany as a hurricane with powerful gusts. 172 kilometers per hour at the lighthouse on Hiddensee, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, 154 kilometers per hour on the Brocken. In Hamburg it was over Zeynep a very severe storm surge, which has not happened for a long time despite several storm surges recently. The Elbe: around 5.30 a.m. in St. Pauli 3.75 meters above the mean high water, then it is no longer a severe storm surge, but a very severe storm surge. An even higher level is expected on Saturday evening.
Floods in Hamburg’s warehouse district
The fish market was flooded, of course, that’s standard in such cases. It also hit several bars on Grosse Elbstraße. Parts of the Speicherstadt and Hafen-City were also flooded this time, both of which are built on the waterfront, which is nice and sometimes risky.
Frederik and Gerrit Braun took the opportunity and had one of their remote-controlled cruise ships from “Miniatur Wunderland” cruise outside, the models seem to be rudimentarily seaworthy. “Another nice opportunity to give our ships a run,” said the brothers and operators of the facility on Facebook, where the “Miniatur Wunderland” has almost 1.6 million followers, it is one of the most popular destinations in Germany. “Unfortunately, this time the wind was too strong for a really big ride.” Otherwise, the fire alarm system is still bitching about, it was said, and the elevator shafts still have to be pumped out, but they want to open again on time. Two other men were probably less relaxed, the fire brigade got them out of their driving car in the Speicherstadt with a rubber dinghy.
Firefighters rescue a man from his car in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt who had previously accidentally driven into the water.
(Photo: Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa)
Sylt lost a lot of sand
The emergency services had plenty to do with Zeynepas recently with the storms Nadia and Ylenia, There were hundreds of operations in this Hanseatic city alone. Overturned poles, downed trees, one hit two parked cars, slightly injuring a girl. Again and again it is videos from Hamburg that become a hit during the storms on the internet: Bei Zeynep it is the stack of containers in the port from which the steel crates tumble on top of each other Ylenia it had been the clip from the liner on the Elbe when a monster wave smashed the windows like off Cape Horn.
Almost the entire beach on Wangerooge was washed away, on Langeoog a considerable part, and Sylt lost a lot of sand again. In the district of Goslar, a man drove into a tree in a storm, and near Hanover an uprooted tree also seriously injured a passer-by. In Gronau near Hildesheim, a copper plate crashed from a church tower onto a house. The third division football match in Osnabrück was canceled due to hurricane damage in the stadium. The wind blew over two trucks on the Fehmarn Sound Bridge.
The next storm has already been announced
Blocked roads, stranded passengers, power outages, disrupted phone networks. The northern train service was temporarily suspended, damage is said to have been registered on the railway over 1000 kilometers. Flights were cancelled, ships remained in the ports, some dared to do it again on Saturday, like the ferry between Rostock-Warnemünde and Gedser in Denmark. In Bremen, a crane slammed into a new building at Europahafen. Some areas on the Weser were cleared as a precaution, something the city hadn’t seen for a long time. In Sankt Peter Ording, the wooden walkway to one of the stilt houses on the beach is broken.
There is a lot to clean up again, as usual after such tantrums of nature. Some of the consequences are also manageable: in the district of Aurich, a resident made an emergency call because four roof tiles were missing and a fir tree was crooked, which the emergency workers thought was a mediocre joke.
Overall, the authorities had in view of the very dramatic warnings with even worse consequences Zeynep expected. Relative calm then on Saturday, also in Hamburg. The next February storm low is announced for Sunday, it is said Antonia.