A fireman was killed in rescue work after the heavy rain in Altena in the Sauerland. A spokesman for the police in the Märkischer Kreis confirmed this on Wednesday. He drowned in the tragic accident. In Altena, the heavy rains caused a lot of damage. The city was “as good as unreachable” on Wednesday, the police said.
In Mettmann near Düsseldorf, an employee of a retirement home was seriously injured by a falling tree and almost drowned. A helper was able to keep her head above water until firefighters had freed the trapped woman, the fire department said.
The west of Germany in particular has been affected by heavy rains, floods and floods since Wednesday night. The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet (CDU), will visit Hagen on Thursday. The State Chancellery announced that he wanted to get an idea of the region that was particularly affected. To this end, he will first meet with the crisis management team and the city’s mayor, Erik O. Schulz (non-party). In the city of the Ruhr area, where around 180,000 people live, masses of water flooded streets and cellars, and an old people’s home with 76 residents was evacuated. Hundreds of emergency calls were received by the fire department.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, more than 100 liters per square meter had already fallen in some places in a short time on Wednesday night. Until Thursday morning, the German Weather Service warned of extreme storms with more heavy rain and thunderstorms, especially for the Eifel, the Rhineland, Bergisches Land, Sauerland and Ruhr area. Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) spoke on Wednesday of an “extremely difficult situation” whose further development could not be foreseen.
The Inde threatened to flood the historic city center of Kornelimünster in Aachen. Because of the flood, the electricity was switched off in the town center. The water levels also rose on the Lenne and Volme in the Sauerland. In Altena, the Lenne overflowed its banks, the water was already running into the city center, the police said. In the evening, the city of Düsseldorf asked the residents of a settlement in the Grafenberg district to leave their homes. The city said that around 350 buildings in the Ostparkiedlung were particularly affected by the rising floods of the northern Düssel. Here, too, the power should be switched off to be on the safe side.
Because of a full tunnel in the state capital, the A 44 motorway was closed in both directions until Thursday. Because the sewers in Erkrath near Düsseldorf were very overcrowded, the residents were called on social media to “not produce any more wastewater and if possible only use the toilet”.