Status: 07/14/2021 2:58 p.m.
The storms moved further in the direction of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. A dormitory was evacuated near Düsseldorf and a retirement home in Hagen. Shipping traffic on the Rhine had to be partially restricted.
After low “Bernd” caused chaos in large parts of southern and eastern Germany, the storms moved on towards North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. Here too, heavy rain caused numerous floods, full basements and accidents.
Sarah Schmidt, WDR, “The water is getting closer by the minute.”
daily news 8:00 p.m., July 14, 2021
“The people are desperate”
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the fire brigade had to pump out numerous cellars. “The people are desperate,” said the spokesman for the Hagen police headquarters. In addition, due to the flooded streets, vehicles began to slide in places.
There are at least 200 locations. The south of Hagen with four districts, some of which can no longer be reached, is particularly hard hit. The district of Dahl is practically cordoned off. A retirement home is uninhabitable and has been evacuated.
Düsseldorf is also affected
In the state capital Düsseldorf, the fire brigade deployed around 330 times. Around 100 residents of a dormitory had to leave their accommodation due to flooding in Erkrath near Düsseldorf. A spokeswoman for the city said the accommodation for refugees is in an old school building, where the basement and the sports hall were full of water. But there is no danger to the residents.
The heavy rains also caused a lot of damage in Altena in the Sauerland. The emergency services fought against water, earth and debris, a fire department spokesman described the situation. From the surrounding slopes, large amounts of water fell onto the city in several places, causing “massive slips”. So far there have been no injuries.
Rising levels in Rhineland-Palatinate
Due to rising water levels, shipping on the Rhine in Rhineland-Palatinate is partially restricted. At the Maxau gauge, the shipping high water mark II was exceeded, as the flood reporting service in Mainz announced. In the area of the Speyer and Worms to Kaub gauges, the high water mark I is still exceeded. Inland vessels must therefore reduce their speed here and stay in the middle of the fairway.
A jetty in St. Goar on the banks of the Rhine was washed around by the flood.
Image: dpa
Search for two men continues
The search for a 53-year-old in the Saxon Erzgebirgskreis continues. The man was swept away by a river Tuesday night as he tried to secure his property against the overflowing river. The fire brigade initially canceled the search during the night because of the high water level, the police said.
In Baden-Württemberg, an 81-year-old man is said to have fallen into the river Jagst on Monday night while working on his house, which leads to flooding after heavy rainfall. He is also still missing. “We do not expect that the person can still be saved alive,” it said. Nevertheless, the search continues there.
Severe weather warning until Thursday morning
The German Weather Service continues to warn of extreme storms in North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and parts of Hesse until Thursday. Extreme continuous rain or prolonged heavy rain could lead to 50 to 100 liters of precipitation per square meter by Thursday morning. Locally up to 200 liters are possible. In Bavaria, it could rain again very heavily in some regions from Wednesday evening.