A violent thunderstorm passed over Reutlingen on Friday afternoon and caused flooding. The storm hit the city center particularly hard.
According to the police and fire brigade, heavy rain and hail caused flooding in Reutlingen on Friday afternoon when a violent thunderstorm swept over the city.
Hailstones clogged the sewers
Because of the many large hailstones, it looked like winter in Reutlingen in the middle of summer. The hailstones, one to two centimeters in size, also clogged the sewers and roads were flooded. According to the city of Reutlingen, the hail layer in the city center was 30 centimeters high. According to a city spokeswoman, the technical operations services had brought snow plows to clear the streets.
In the city center, the water mixed with hailstones flowed down the pedestrian zone. The police had to temporarily issue a danger warning. But no major accidents happened because of the storm.
After the locally limited storm, the police asked them to avoid the city center and not to make any unnecessary car trips. In addition, the police warned where there was a risk of flooding to go into the basement and underground car parks. The extent of the damage caused by hailstones is not yet foreseeable.
Around 100 deployments by the fire brigade
Fire brigade commander Stefan Hermann from the Reutlingen fire brigade told the SWR on Friday evening that there had been around 100 operations. These were mainly flooded basements and flooded underground car parks. In the afternoon, many emergency calls were received by the fire brigade. According to the fire brigade commander, there were also many drivers who did not dare to get out of their vehicles. “It was also right at that moment to stay in the vehicle and call the fire brigade.” Around 250 emergency services from the professional fire brigade and all departments of the volunteer fire brigade were deployed.
Mountains of hail remain from the severe storm in Reutlingen on Friday afternoon.
SWR
Lisamarie Haas
The level of the river Echaz rose by 1.50 meters in five minutes and briefly burst its banks in the Betzingen district of Reutlingen. This did not cause major damage, the new flood protection in Betzingen prevented worse.
Neckar-Alb: hailstorm ten years ago
The same weather situation two years ago: At the end of June 2021, the fire brigade and police in Reutlingen and in the northern part of the Reutlingen district had to be deployed several times due to heavy rain and heavy hail.
Ten years ago, on July 28, 2013, there was a severe hailstorm over the Neckar-Alb region, causing millions in damage, especially in Reutlingen.