Status: 07/25/2021 9:36 pm
After the flood disaster in western Germany, calm returned to the affected areas. The clean-up work could continue. There were severe weather warnings in the evening for Bavaria, Berlin and Brandenburg.
There is relief in the flood areas in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia: The new severe storms feared for this weekend have not materialized. Although there was, according to the WDR-Weather department in NRW local showers and thunderstorms, occasional heavy rain and stormy gusts. Occasionally there were full cellars. However, there was far less rainfall than expected.
The German Weather Service (DWD) issued an official warning on Saturday afternoon of strong thunderstorms with squalls around 70 kilometers per hour, heavy rain and hail – including for the Euskirchen district, which was badly affected by the storm. In the meantime everyone is very happy that nothing bad has happened anymore, said district spokesman Wolfgang Andres.
According to the meteorologists, there were still some local thunderstorms in the evening, especially on the Lower Rhine and in East Westphalia-Lippe. In the flood areas, however, there is currently no exceptional weather, it said.
Clean-up work in Rhineland-Palatinate
In Rhineland-Palatinate, too, hardly any rain fell on Sunday night in the affected regions, according to the DWD. The weather experts emphasized, however, that in the current situation even small amounts of precipitation could become a problem, as drains are clogged and the sewer systems are damaged. As a precaution, the residents had been offered the option of being taken to an emergency shelter by shuttle bus.
Clean-up work in the floodplains continues
Axel John, SWR, daily news 6:00 p.m., July 25, 2021
In the disaster area on the Ahr, tons of rubbish is now being transported away. With the support of farmers, disposal companies should bring it to landfills, as the supervisory and service directorate (ADD) announced. Individual traffic is largely prohibited up to and including Monday so that the garbage trucks have free travel.
The removal should also run on the A61. Drivers there must expect traffic disruptions. Volunteers have now been allowed to return to the crisis area. You should use the shuttle buses from a private initiative to get there. “Every helper is not only wanted, but is also urgently needed,” said the head of the civil protection team, Begoña Hermann.
Heavy rains in other parts of Germany
There were storms in other parts of Germany: In Saarland as well as in South and southwest of Germany partly violent thunderstorms and rain showers drew up. In Stuttgart, parts of the city center were flooded, and trees buckled in several communities in the Heilbronn district. In the Ludwigsburg district, streets were flooded and manhole covers were lifted.
In Schlehdorf in the Upper Bavarian district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, about 43 liters per square meter fell according to the DWD at 6 p.m. The rain was also heavy in Irschenberg in the Upper Bavarian district of Miesbach.
The storm hit this time too Berlin and Brandenburg, violent thunderstorms fell there in the early evening. The Berlin fire brigade announced on Twitter that it was in the “state of emergency weather”. Operations would be processed with priority, there could be waiting times on the emergency number 112. At Berlin Airport (BER) in Schönefeld, Brandenburg, there were numerous delays in the evening, and the departures were jammed.
Heavy rains came down in Berlin.
Image: dpa
The DWD had also warned for Brandenburg, for the northern districts and the Havelland, Märkisch-Oderland, Potsdam, Teltow-Fläming, Dahme-Spreewald and Elbe-Elster.
More thunderstorms and heavy rainfalls are to be expected
The DWD expects thunderstorms and heavy rain again in the new week. “But there is no national storm or flood situation,” said meteorologist Jaqueline Kernn. Locally, however, the rain could be enough to flood cellars. For the areas devastated by the floods, “every bucket of water per square meter is too much” anyway. The changeable weather is determined by Tief Dirk. It brings moist, warm air from the southwest to Germany.