Southern Germany
Storm stops S-Bahn – injured on campsite
Lightning flashes over Munich. photo
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
A storm with heavy rain will hit Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in the evening. In Munich, the S-Bahn traffic is stopped, in other regions railway lines have to be closed.
After severe storms in Munich S-Bahn traffic temporarily stopped completely at night. In several regions in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg there were route closures in regional traffic – mainly because of fallen trees.
Deutsche Bahn said: “Several delays are to be expected.” As a result of the storm, three people were injured at a campsite on Lake Constance.
Delays and train cancellations
In the Bavarian state capital, the S-Bahn trains would be held back at suitable stations and initially waited there, the operator announced in the evening via social networks. “The reason for this is weather-related impairments in the entire area of the Munich S-Bahn.”
The routes in the S-Bahn network should be examined to check whether train journeys are possible again. At around 12.45 a.m. it was said that train traffic would be resumed to a limited extent, but that there were considerable delays and train cancellations as well as section closures.
Other routes affected
Late in the evening, the train said that the routes in the Allgäu and Upper Bavaria would be explored and the effects eliminated as far as possible. Train traffic is currently severely restricted there. For example, the Kempten (Allgäu) main station – Lindau-Reutin route is only accessible to a limited extent. In addition, the Oberstaufen – Hergatz section was closed because of a tree lying on the track.
The Kirchberg-Backnang and Winnenden-Backnang connections on the Stuttgart S-Bahn were closed – also because of trees and larger branches on the track.
Storm damage also led to the closure of several regional train routes in Baden-Württemberg. The IRE 6 between Mössingen and Hechingen, the RE 2 between Donaueschingen and St Georgen and the RE 7/RB 27 lines between Freiburg (Breisgau) Hbf and Müllheim (Baden) are affected. “Everyone involved on site is doing everything they can to clear the routes again,” the company said.
Injured at campsite
Several trees fell at the campsite in Lindau on Lake Constance – three people were injured, one of them seriously. Because further danger threatened, it was decided to clear the entire square, as a police spokesman said. 900 people were to be accommodated temporarily in the Inselhalle in Lindau and cared for there by helpers from the Red Cross, among others.
Numerous fire brigade operations in Freiburg
In Freiburg, the heavy rain flooded basements and streets and triggered numerous fire brigade operations. From 7.45 p.m. to around 11 p.m. there were 383 operations, more would follow, said a fire department spokesman.
“In and around Freiburg, traffic came to a complete standstill for about 30 minutes,” the police said. There are no injuries. Trees were also toppled and a broken power line fell on a car. In one case, a trapped person had to be rescued from a flooded basement.